Tag Archives: Franz Schubert

Rethinking Mozart 40 & Schubert 5 with Rachel Podger and Tafelmusik

Posted on September 27, 2025 by barczablog

Friday night was an exciting beginning to the Tafelmusik concert season led by their charismatic Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger featuring works of Mozart & Schubert, a concert to be repeated Saturday & Sunday at Koerner Hall. The spectacular performances … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Charlotte Nediger, classical-music, Franz Schubert, Koerner Hall, Mozart, Rachel Podger, Tafelmusik, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Rachel Fenlon’s Winterreise

Posted on February 12, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight Music TORONTO presented Rachel Fenlon’s solo performance of Schubert’s Winterreise. This isn’t the usual winter journey. One normally expects a singer and a pianist to undertake this romantic cycle of 24 songs. It’s less usual to have a female … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Der Winterreise, Franz Schubert, Jane Mallett Theatre, Music TORONTO, pianist, Rachel Fenlon, self-accompanied, song cycle | Leave a comment

Faust Adaptations

Posted on November 4, 2024 by barczablog

Today I saw the closing performance of the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Gounod’s Faust, in a week when it seemed everyone was selling their soul to the devil even without the manifest falsehoods of politicians at election time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Ariane Cossette, Canadian Opera Company, Centre Stage, Cesare Siepi, Charles Gounod, F W Murnau, Faust, Franz Schubert, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Hector Berlioz, Jerome Hines, Jessica Harper, Johannes Debus, Kyle Ketelsen, La Damnation de Faust, Nabucco, Paul WIlliams, Phantom of the Paradise, Robert Lepage, Szymon Mechlinski, Walpurgisnacht Ballet | Leave a comment

Rachel Fenlon talks about her self-accompanied Winterreise

Posted on October 8, 2024 by barczablog

It sounds so simple: a self-accompanied Winterreise. It’s already a significant achievement to either sing the songs or play the piano part of Franz Schubert’s romantic song-cycle of the lonely winter wanderer. But doing both at the same time? A … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology | Tagged Danika Lorèn, Franz Schubert, Gabriel Kahane, Hania Rani, Judith Forst, Matthias McIntire, Nancy Hermiston, Olivia Chaney, Rachel Fenlon, Sweetwater Music Festival, Winterreise | 2 Comments

30 years since Derek Jarman died.

Posted on February 19, 2024 by barczablog

It’s the anniversary of Derek Jarman’s passing, February 19th 1994. He was 52 years old when he passed. I was looking at Jarman’s IMDB entry, where there are a pair of pictures with him with Amy Johnson, listed on IMDB … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Amy Johnson, Aria, David Ferry, Derek Jarman, Franz Schubert, Frederic Chopin, Leontyne Price, Pet Shop Boys | Leave a comment

Tahara, Royer and SPO play Schubert and Saint-Saëns

Posted on November 6, 2022 by barczablog

Tonight’s Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra was my first live experience of the ensemble, a return to live in person appearances featuring pianist Lisa Tahara conducted by music director Ronald Royer. It’s a pleasant change of pace to have a concert relatively … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Camille Saint-Saens, Franz Schubert, Lisa Tahara, Ronald Royer, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra | 1 Comment

TSO and Gimeno return

Posted on November 11, 2021 by barczablog

This Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert was a happening. They’re back! The audience clapped when the players appeared. And we clapped when Gustavo Gimeno came out for his first appearance as our New Music Director. The occasion was special for several … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged acoustics, Anthony Barfield, COVID19, Franz Josef Haydn, Franz Schubert, Gustavo Gimeno, Invictus, Michael Zarathus-Cook, Paul Hindemith, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1 Comment

A conversation with Doug MacNaughton

Posted on August 16, 2021 by barczablog

Doug MacNaughton is known as much for his acting as for his singing, at home in opera, operetta, music theatre and concert work. As powerful as he sounds in ONE DAY MORE Doug also has the ability to use his … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Allan Monk, Another Kind of Hero, ARP 2600, Banff, Barber of Seville, Benji, Bernard Uzan, Bob McPhee, Bobby McFerrin, Brandon University, Canadian Opera Company, Carl Stalling, Chris Dawes, Chroi, COC Ensemble Studio, COVID-19, Derek Bate, Doug MacNaughton, Dr Bartolo, Edmonton Opera, Franz Schubert, Gianni Schicchi, Gord Simmons, Gordon Bintner, Graeme Campbell, Guitarias, HMS Pinafore, Irving Guttman, Jenna Gallagher, John Beckwith, John Rea, John Turner, Les Miserables, Lula Lounge, Maestro Spinelloccio, Man of la Mancha, Mischa Aster, Mump and Smoot, Opera de Quebec, Papageno, Peter Strummer, Raoul Wallenberg, Richard Bradshaw, Richard Margison, Sam, Sancho Panza, Spike Jones, Stirling Festival, Stratford Festival, Thomas Quasthoff, Timothy Vernon, Wanderers Nachtlied, William Hutt, Winterreise, Woyzeck, Wozzeck | 3 Comments

Wohin: where do we go from here? now what?

Posted on December 31, 2020 by barczablog

As we come to the end of 2020, we may wonder. Where do we go from here? Now what? It’s in that spirit that I invoke a Schubert song, “Wohin” from his cycle Die Schöne Müllerin. First there was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Fritz Wunderlich, Matthias Goerne, Peter Schreier, Sergei Rachmaninoff, The brooklet, Thomas Quasthoff, Wohin | Leave a comment

Fierabras in concert

Posted on February 4, 2019 by barczablog

Voicebox /Opera in Concert offered a highlight in a splendid week of music theatre in Toronto, reminding us of why they are such a crucial part of the mix in this city with their concert performance of Schubert’s Fierabras today. Hook … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Dobson, Amy Moodie, Evan Korbut, Franz Schubert, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Jocelyn Fralick, Justin Welsh, Kevin Mallon, Lawrence Wiliford, Opera in Concert, Robert Cooper, Voicebox | Leave a comment