Tag Archives: Glenn Gould

Competing icons at the RCM: Gould, Liszt and others

Posted on August 10, 2022 by barczablog

It’s a branding exercise to give a building a name. Roy Thomson has his hall. Both Rogers and Four Seasons have Centres. They already have The Glenn Gould School in the Royal Conservatory of Music. So why not also give … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Brian Current, Franz Liszt, Géza Stremeny, Gesamtkunstwerk, Glenn Gould, Gregory Finney, Lauren Pearl, Liza Balkan, Lydia Perović, modernist, Richard Wagner, Royal Conservatory of Music, Tamás Fekete | Leave a comment

Gould’s Wall

Posted on August 6, 2022 by barczablog

Tapestry Opera have premiered Brian Current’s new site-specific work Gould’s Wall, an event that adds another layer to the association between the Royal Conservatory of Music and one of their most distinguished alumni Glenn Gould. I like it more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Brian Current, Canadian Opera Company, Glenn Gould, Jennifer Tung, Lauren Pearl, Liza Balkan, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Roger Honeywell, Royal Conservatory of Music, Tapestry Opera | Leave a comment

Immortal Glenn Gould

Posted on July 29, 2022 by barczablog

I want to write something about Glenn Gould. Who is he, what is his legacy in 2022? I’m thinking about what GG means to me as I anticipate Tapestry Opera’s premiere of Gould’s Wall, a new site-specific opera opening August … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Brian Current, Glenn Gould, Gould's Wall, JS Bach, Liza Balkan, Marshall McLuhan, Michael Mori, Richard Wagner, Royal Conservatory of Music, Ruth Abernethy, Tapestry Opera | Leave a comment

Beethoven 250: interpreting Sonata #9

Posted on November 14, 2020 by barczablog

There are at least two ways to understand music. We listen. Perhaps you hear a performance on some device such as your smartphone, your TV or a computer, or even in a live setting such as a concert or a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture, Sports | Tagged Daniel Barenboim, Glenn Gould, Ludwig van Beethoven, Op 14 #1, pedagogy, piano, Stewart Goodyear, virtuosity, Yuja Wang | 5 Comments

Oxymoronic Gould Transcriptions

Posted on July 29, 2018 by barczablog

It seems like a lifetime ago, back when Glenn Gould was still alive. I’d first learned of him in my childhood as the one who showed us a new approach to Bach, a famous performer who had then abandoned live … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Bell Rocket Belt, Carl Morey, Die Meistersinger, Glenn Gould, Michael Kamen, Parsifal, Richard Wagner, Siegfried Idyll, Terry Gilliam | 2 Comments

Glenn Gould: extra hands

Posted on December 11, 2014 by barczablog

Thank you Edward Johnson Building library, once again I found treasure in the collection that never disappoints. I’d grabbed a great mass of scores in anticipation of a couple of gigs, never knowing fully what to play, but wanting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Carl Morey, Franz Liszt, Glenn Gould, Richard Wagner | Leave a comment

10 questions for Stephen Lord

Posted on December 31, 2013 by barczablog

Identified by Opera News as one of the “25 Most Powerful Names in US Opera”, Stephen Lord is a conductor known for his sensitive handling of singers. In my review of April’s Canadian Opera Company production of Lucia di Lammermoor … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Aida, Antonino Votto, Canadian Opera Company, Carlos Kleiber, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Giuseppe Verdi, Glenn Gould, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, La Traviata, Regietheater, Sandra Horst, Stephen Lord, Tullio Serafin, Un ballo in maschera | 15 Comments

Solti Centennial

Posted on October 19, 2012 by barczablog

The centennial of Hungarian conductor Georg Solti arrives on October 21st. As a Hungarian I always found it irritating that he called himself “Georg” rather than “György”. But of course whenever I say that name aloud –and unless you’re Magyar … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Birgit Nilsson, Georg Solti, Gerhard Stolze, Glenn Gould, Gottlob Frick, Hans Hotter, Herbert von Karajan, James King, John Culshaw, Jon Vickers, Karl Ridderbusch, Kirsten Flagstad, Leontyne Price, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Gorr, Tony Curtis | 2 Comments

Ten Questions for Alex Pauk

Posted on October 2, 2012 by barczablog

Alex Pauk is an artistic activist, a composer, a conductor, driving force behind many commissions for other Canadian composers, and the Founding Music Director & Conductor of the Esprit Orchestra, an ensemble embarking upon their 30th Anniversary Season with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Alex Pauk, Alexina Louie, Bach, Esprit Orchestra, Glenn Gould, Lady Gaga, Marius Constant, R Murray Schafer, Ravel | 2 Comments

Gould Burg

Posted on September 26, 2012 by barczablog

Today and this week, we celebrate the 80th birthday of a famous Canadian. If Toronto is Glenn Gould’s city we live in “Gould burg”. In the Beaches there’s a plaque not far from his high school reminding us of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays | Tagged Glenn Gould, Harold Innis, Marshall McLuhan | Leave a comment