Tag Archives: Joel Ivany

Best of 2022

Posted on January 9, 2023 by barczablog

I enjoy recalling the best moments of the past 12 months. There’s a fork in the road, however. One pathway leads towards that which is truly “new”, while the other relies on what we’ve seen before. Need I mention, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Alexander Neef, ARC Ensemble, Arkady Spivak, Canadian Opera Company, CERB, Chris Abraham, Conan and the Stone of Kelior, Corey Arnold, Crow's Theatre, Eldritch Theatre, Elisa Citterio, Eric Woolfe, Gay for Pay, Gould's Wall, Gustavo Gimeno, Joel Ivany, Kyle McDonald, Lauren Pearl, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, Nicole Lizée, OCADU, Perryn Leech, RCM, Royal Conservatory of Music, RUR A Torrent of Light, Simon Wynberg, Sweeney Todd, Tafelmusik, Talk is Free Theatre, Tapestry Opera, The Lion Heart, TIFT, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO, Wajdi Mouawad, Yuja Wang | Leave a comment

COC Carmen Opens

Posted on October 15, 2022 by barczablog

I saw and heard opening night of the Canadian Opera Company’s Carmen tonight at the Four Seasons Centre, a revival of Joel Ivany’s 2016 production. It’s a wonderful take on a well-known work with a very original approach to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alain Coulombe, Canadian Opera Company, Carmen, Flying Dutchman, Four Seasons Centre, Georges Bizet, Jacques Lacombe, J’Nai Bridges, Joel Ivany, Joyce El-Khoury, Lucas Meachem, Marcelo Puente | Leave a comment

Confronting mortality: AtG /COC Mozart Requiem

Posted on December 4, 2021 by barczablog

The pandemic is simultaneously new in its requirements and yet old in once again reminding us of our ultimate destiny. Modern science may blind us to history’s lessons. The images on the tray in this picture come from Täby kyrka, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Andrew Haji, Canadian Opera Company, Ensemble Studio, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Marion Newman, Midori Marsh, Scarborough Bluffs, Vartan Gabrielian, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

A season like no other: templates

Posted on September 24, 2021 by barczablog

Before the Canadian Opera Company begin their virtual season this fall, it’s worth looking at what the other big companies have been doing. The COC are promoting “A Season Like No Other” in this unique time when everyone is living … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged A Season like no other, Canadian Opera Company, Espiral, Gianni Schicchi, Gotterdammerung, Ian Cusson, In Winter, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mozart Requiem, OKAN, Pagliacci, Russell Braun, Sir Andrew Davis, Tamara Wilson, Twilight: Gods, Yuval sharon | Leave a comment

Messiah / Complex

Posted on December 20, 2020 by barczablog

There’s nothing simple about Messiah/Complex, a new film that’s currently available for streaming from the Against the Grain Theatre website until January 7th. Complex? It’s an adaptation of Handel’s popular oratorio, a co-production of Against the Grain Theatre and Against … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Popular music & culture, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Diyet, Diyet & The Love Soldiers, George Frideric Handel, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Messiah, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1 Comment

AF and why

Posted on February 21, 2020 by barczablog

Huge preamble coming. If you want to skip to the review itself, look under the photo.I went to see AF and am daring to review it. I feel I need to say this after having read Yvette Nolan’s piece, responding … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged AF, bug, Canadian Stage, Christos Hatzis, criticism, crystal pite, dramaturgy, Eddie Elliott, Eliot Britton, Eugenio Barba, Jennifer Brousseau, Joel Ivany, Joyce To, Michael Rourke, Miyeko Ferguson, National Ballet of Canada, Red Sky Performance, Revisor, Rick Sacks, Sandra Laronde, Sela Vai, Thomas Fonua, Yolanda Bonnell, Yvette Nolan | 1 Comment

#COCgingerbread: Joel Ivany softens a Grimm tale of cruelty

Posted on February 9, 2020 by barczablog

It’s called “Hansel and Gretel”, not “kill the witch”. And in the original the witch isn’t even the nastiest character. You may already know that the new Canadian Opera Company production of Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel modernizes the setting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged #COCgingerbread, Adelheid Wette, Anna-Sophie Neher, Brothers Grimm, Canadian Opera Company, Emily Fons, Errol Gay, Hansel & Gretel, Joel Ivany, Krisztina Szabo, Russell Braun, S Katy Tucker, Simone Osborne | Leave a comment

Parenthood, poverty, Hansel & Gretel: a conversation with Joel Ivany

Posted on January 26, 2020 by barczablog

In a few days Joel Ivany, Artistic Director of Against the Grain Theatre, will be premiering his new Hansel and Gretel at the Four Seasons Centre, in a Canadian Opera Company production. Singled out for last year’s Against the Grain … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adelheid Wette, Against the Grain Theatre, Alexander Neef, Brothers Grimm, Curious George, Emily Fons, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hansel and Gretel, Home Alone, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Krisztina Szabo, Michael Colvin, Russell Braun, Simone Osborne, Where the Wilds Things Are | 2 Comments

Framing the Pollyanna proposition

Posted on January 9, 2020 by barczablog

January is named for that two-headed god who is able to look ahead and back. As I ponder the wreckage of 2019 I wonder if Janus was too busy looking down at his phone and not watching where he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged 887, Against the Grain Theatre, Alaina Viau, Amplified Opera, Aria Umezawa, Book of my shames, crystal pite, Dawn Jani Birley, Elisa Citterio, Gustavo Gimeno, Isaiah Bell, Joel Ivany, Johannes Debus, Jonathan Crow, Jonathan Young, Kiviuq Returns, Kopernikus, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Masaaki Suzuki, Musique 3 Femmes, Revisor, Robert Lepage, Rusalka, Sondra Radvanovsky, Tamara Wilson, Teiya Kasahara, The St Matthew Passion, Toronto City Opera, Wajdi Mouawad | 1 Comment

Figaro’s Wedding 2019

Posted on December 4, 2019 by barczablog

In 2013 Against the Grain offered the first of their “transladaptations” of one of the trilogy of da Ponte-Mozart operas, Figaro’s Wedding. Tonight AtG premiered something we might call a revival of the work, with a number of intriguing differences, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Against the Grain Theatre, Alexandra Smither, Bruno Roy, Da Ponte, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Gregory Finney, Jacques Arsenault, Joel Ivany, Lauren Eberwein, Maria Soulis, Miriam Khalil, Mozart, Phillip Addis, Topher Mokrzewski, transladaptation | Leave a comment