Tag Archives: Metropolitan Opera

From the Met: Jocelyn and Dean create a Hamlet

Posted on June 5, 2022 by barczablog

Adapting a play into an opera can be fascinating work, especially when it’s as well-known a play as Hamlet. I’ve seen several attempts to turn this play into something else including a couple of musicals, an opera long ago, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Allan Clayton, Barbara Hannigan, Brenda Rae, Brett Dean, Canadian Stage, Claude Debussy, Giuseppe Verdi, Hamlet, John Relyea, Matthew Jocelyn, Metropolitan Opera, Neil Armfield, New Creations, Nicholas Carter, Otello, Rod Gilfry, Sarah Connolly, Stephane Mallarme, Thomas Ades, Toronto Symphony, William Burden, Zachary Woolfe | Leave a comment

Quilico and Pavarotti in Rigoletto

Posted on April 12, 2021 by barczablog

The Metropolitan Opera’s free feed gave us a lovely trip down memory lane last week, with a 1981 Rigoletto starring Louis Quilico, Luciano Pavarotti and Christiane Eda-Pierre. I can’t be the only one who watched, remembering the times Quilico sang … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera | Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Louis Quilico, Luciano Pavarotti, Metropolitan Opera, Rigoletto | 4 Comments

Brilliantly Problematic Porgy & Bess

Posted on February 2, 2020 by barczablog

Don’t let the headline fool you. When you see that the Metropolitan Opera are producing The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess for the first time in almost thirty years, seemingly selling every ticket to every performance, you might well ask them: … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Angel Blue, DuBose Heyward, Eric Owens, Frederick Ballantyne, George Gershwin, Golda Schultz, Ira Gershwin, Metropolitan Opera, Porgy & Bess, Szilveszter Ókovács | 3 Comments

Met HD Wozzeck

Posted on January 13, 2020 by barczablog

They say it’s a co-production, this new Wozzeck that was broadcast in High Definition this past weekend from the Metropolitan Opera: “A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Salzburg Festival; the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; and Opera Australia.” The co-pro of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Christopher Van Horn, Elsa van den Heever, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Peter Mattei, William Kentridge, Yannick Nezet-seguin | 1 Comment

10 Questions for Stephen Costello

Posted on April 10, 2013 by barczablog

The fast-rising young tenor Stephen Costello has firmly established himself as one of the current generation’s most impressive artists. He came to national attention in 2007 when, at age 26, he debuted at the Met’s season-opening night and was quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Anna Christy, Canadian Opera Company, David Alden, Donizetti, Four Seasons Centre, James Levine, Jimmy Stewart, Johnny Depp, Lucia di Lammermoor, Metropolitan Opera, Moby Dick, Parterre, Richard Tucker, Stephen Costello, Stephen Lord, Tom Hanks | 1 Comment

Metropolitan Opera 2013-2014

Posted on February 27, 2013 by barczablog

Depending on your taste, there are good and bad things in Peter Gelb’s announcement of the 2013-2014 season at the Metropolitan Opera. I am most excited by an item that seems to currently be under the radar. Dmitri Tcherniakov will … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb | Leave a comment

Canadian Pride

Posted on February 24, 2013 by barczablog

It’s the day before the Academy Awards, which means Canadians can indulge in our favourite sport. No I don’t mean hockey, which is more of an obsession than something you could dismiss as mere fun. It’s too much of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays | Tagged 32 Short films about Glenn Gould, Christopher Plummer, COC, Francois Girard, Jonas Kaufmann, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Michael Levine, Mychael Danna, Oedipus Rex, Opera de Lyon, Parsifal, Richard Bradshaw, Siegfried, Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms, The Red Violin | 3 Comments

10 Questions for Wallis Giunta

Posted on January 26, 2013 by barczablog

Have you seen this smile? That’s Wallis Giunta, who may have caught your eye in the in-flight magazine you’d casually leaf through if you were flying Porter airlines between New York and Toronto: as Giunta herself likely does. A graduate … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Alison Krauss, Cherubino, Giuseppe Giacomini, Isabel Leonard, Juno, La Clemenza di Tito, Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Metropolitan Opera, Michael Cera, Wallis Giunta | 2 Comments

Jan 1st Troyens

Posted on January 4, 2013 by barczablog

Francesca Zambello’s production of Berlioz’s Les Troyens has returned to the Metropolitan Opera. When it premiered a decade ago it was Deborah Voigt as Cassandra, Ben Heppner as Aeneas and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson as Dido, conducted by James Levine. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Ben Heppner, Berlioz, Bryan Hymel, Elizabeth Bishop, Fabio Luisi, Francesca Zambello, James Levine, Les Troyens, Metropolitan Opera, Susan Graham | 1 Comment

Trojans: three or is it four?

Posted on January 3, 2013 by barczablog

To my knowledge there are three versions of Hector Berlioz’s epic Les Troyens on DVD. I obtained the first when it came out as a VHS tape. It’s now available re-mastered, capturing several remarkable performances from 1983, the Metropolitan Opera … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Anna Caterina Antonacci, Gregory Kunde, James Levine, Jessye Norman, Metropolitan Opera, Placido Domingo, Susan Graham, Tatiana Troyanos, Théâtre du Châtelet, Valery Gergiev, Yannis Kokkos | Leave a comment