Tag Archives: Richard Wagner

Looking back, aka Alex Ross’s Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music

Posted on December 28, 2020 by barczablog

I’m ending 2020 with a pair of complementary book reviews. No they’re not in any way similar in their topics, yet they frame the transition to a new year rather well. Fareed Zakaria’s Ten Lessons for a Post-pandemic World, (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Politics | Tagged Alex Ross, Charles Baudelaire, DW Griffith, Fareed Zakaria, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jacques Barzun, modern, modernist, Richard Wagner, Sergei Eisenstein, Sky Gilbert, Thomas Mann, TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music, Willa Cather, william Blissett | Leave a comment

Beethoven 250: 2020 vision

Posted on December 15, 2020 by barczablog

It’s an oxymoron of a year, this 2020 that is a little over two weeks from its conclusion. Social butterflies (those of us who self-identify as extroverts & are therefore energized by other people) have no choice but to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged An die ferne Geliebte, Beethoven 250, Franz Liszt, Gerald Moore, Immortal Beloved, Ludwig van Beethoven, Muzak, Richard Wagner | Leave a comment

Beethoven’s 250th

Posted on November 2, 2020 by barczablog

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December of 1770. I suppose the only people who might care about the precise date would be those of us who want to throw Ludwig a party. In my day one was taught that … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Beethoven 250, Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner | 1 Comment

Pondering wandering

Posted on April 14, 2019 by barczablog

I like the sound of that headline. As I do what it says, pondering wandering, I am a bit lost in the ambiguities. If we knew where we were going it wouldn’t be wandering, would it. The time of year … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Byron, Harold in Italy, Hector Berlioz, Joel Ivany, Matjash Mrozewski, Parsifal, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Terence Mallick, Topher Mokrzewski, Tree of Life | Leave a comment

Episode V: beyond popularity

Posted on March 14, 2019 by barczablog

Films with live accompaniment are becoming a regular experience. I don’t mean that the novelty is wearing off, at least I hope not. But what began as an experiment has become a new revenue-stream for the Toronto Symphony, somewhere between … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Episode V, film music, George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, John Williams, Lawrence Kasdan, Leigh Brackett, Melodrama, Richard Wagner, Siegfried, star wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

TSO: Sir Andrew Davis Conducts Wagner

Posted on February 1, 2019 by barczablog

If you’re a fan of the music of Richard Wagner chances are you’re fully aware that the Toronto Symphony are showcasing some of his best known music this week, in a concert tonight that repeats Saturday Feb 2nd. After three … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Davis, Brindley Sherratt, Die Walkure, Lise Davidsen, Richard Wagner, Simon O’Neill, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 16 Comments

Wagner & Sibelius insights with Margarete von Vaight

Posted on September 13, 2018 by barczablog

There’s so much to know about some repertoire, a little flash of insight about this song or that role can get lost in the massive store-house of knowledge. It used to be said among my circle of friends at university … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Lohengrin, Margarete von Vaight, Ortrud, Richard Wagner, Sibelius, Svarta rosor | Leave a comment

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 | 3 Comments

Music minus one

Posted on July 28, 2018 by barczablog

I write a lot about transcriptions possibly because they’re so much fun. Sometimes I can manage to play them, sometimes they’re too difficult but still fascinating to explore. One plays a piano piece while imagining an original from another context, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Brahms, Busoni, Franz Liszt, Harold in Italy, Hector Berlioz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mussorgskii, Ravel, Richard Wagner, Symphonie Fantastique | 1 Comment

Parsifal Bayerische Staatsoper 2018

Posted on July 10, 2018 by barczablog

As a Canadian I regularly see pleasant but undistinguished productions that are enjoyable for some aspects, while leaving me unsatisfied overall. The performance of Parsifal that I watched tonight live-streamed from the Bavarian State Opera, sung and played with such … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Amfortas, Brecht, Christian Gerhaher, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Georg Baselitz, Gustav Neidlinger, Jonas Kaufmann, Julian Crouch, Kirill Petrenko, Klingsor, Kundry, Nina Stemme, Parsifal, Phelim McDermott, Pierre Audi, Richard Wagner, Wolfgang Koch | 2 Comments