Tag Archives: Mozart

Questions for Alexander Hajek

Posted on January 19, 2024 by barczablog

I heard baritone Alexander Hajek singing at the Toronto Vocal Showcase 1.0 in August. He sang well. Full disclosure? I grew up accompanying my brother baritone Peter Barcza. I tend to be harshest with baritone voices ever since. So it … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Alexander Hajek, Claire Elise Harris, Da Ponte, Danie Friesen, Das Rheingold, Ernani, Giuseppe Verdi, Mozart, Opera Revue, Richard Wagner, Toronto Vocal Showcase 1.0, Warhammer | Leave a comment

Crow and Chiu play Beethoven live and in person

Posted on July 28, 2021 by barczablog

The performance is almost incidental to the miracle of live music. Please let me never become blasé, never lose my sense of wonder and gratitude, inured to magic. This is a privilege. I was stunned that not only the Toronto … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology | Tagged Grace Church on-the-Hill, Haydn, Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Crow, Kreutzer Sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart, Philip Chiu, Toronto Summer Music | Leave a comment

Tribal Messiah

Posted on December 22, 2019 by barczablog

I’m trying to find the right word, so please bear with me. For someone who goes to see concerts & theatre more often than most people, you might never guess that I’m sometimes frustrated. My mantra is “I’m a lucky … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Alexander Shelley, George Frideric Handel, Ivars Taurins, Lucile Richardot, Margaret Rood, Mozart, Peter Harvey, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Thomas Hobbs, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1 Comment

TSO Messiah via Mozart

Posted on December 21, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight I heard something different from the Toronto Symphony. The TSO’s annual Messiah in Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir may seem like a ritual, but it actually varies from year to year. Every time we get different … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alexander Shelley, David Fallis, Emily D'Angelo, George Frideric Handel, Isaiah Bell, Jane Archibald, Messiah, Mozart, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Roy Thomson Hall, Russell Braun, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 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

Song of the Earth

Posted on August 2, 2019 by barczablog

I can’t help noticing symmetry in 2019’s Toronto Summer Music and its Beyond Borders theme. The Festival opened July 12th with a concert featuring a Mozart sonata including the famous rondo “alla Turca” and a 20th century song cycle in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Arnold Schoenberg, Gemma New, Gustav Mahler, Jonathan Crow, Mario Bahg, Mozart, Rainer Riehn, Rihab Chaieb | 1 Comment

Idomeneo: Marshall Law

Posted on April 5, 2019 by barczablog

The question running through my head as I watched tonight’s opening of Opera Atelier’s Idomeneo at the Ed Mirvish Theatre was: “who is the star?” In this their first performance in a new venue I could say “it’s the space”. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Colin Ainsworth, David Fallis, Douglas Williams, Idomeneo, Marshall Pynkoski, Measha Bruggergosman, Meghan Lindsay, Mozart, Opera Atelier, Wallis Giunta | Leave a comment

Egoyan- Lite

Posted on February 24, 2019 by barczablog

I had another look at the Canadian Opera Company’s Cosi fan tutte tonight, a production that I enjoyed even more this time in its closing performance. Last time I was content to have so much fun & so many laughs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Atom Egoyan, Canadian Opera Company, Cosi fan tutte, Da Ponte, Emily D'Angelo, Kirsten MacKinnon, Marilyn Gronsdal, Mozart, R Kelly, Russell Braun, Tracy Dahl | 1 Comment

Zukerman, Mozart and the TSO

Posted on January 18, 2019 by barczablog

While tonight’s Toronto Symphony all-Mozart concert, conducted by violinist Pinchas Zukerman was 180 degrees in the opposite direction from what they were up to yesterday at Koerner Hall, launching the 21C Festival of new music, there were some interesting points … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged Mozart, Pinchas Zukerman | Leave a comment

Hadrian’s Dramaturg: Questions for Cori Ellison

Posted on October 6, 2018 by barczablog

Cori Ellison is the Dramaturg for the Canadian Opera Company’s world premiere production of Hadrian¸composed by Rufus Wainwright and with libretto by Daniel MacIvor. Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in the opera world, was recently appointed staff Dramaturg at … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Interviews, Opera | Tagged Aida, Anthony Everitt, Canadian Opera Company, Cori Ellison, Cosi fan tutte, Daniel MacIvor, Don Carlo, dramaturg, Giuseppe Verdi, Hadrian, Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome, Karita Mattila, Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian, Mozart, Peter Hinton, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson | 1 Comment