Tag Archives: Schubert

Great and Big

Posted on July 3, 2014 by barczablog

Franz Schubert wrote two symphonies in C Major. Indeed he wrote two in D major and two in B-flat major as well. The two C Major symphonies are sometimes distinguished by size. One is called “the little C Major Symphony”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Post

Posted on September 7, 2013 by barczablog

When i go to write a new piece here on the blog, i follow the tab to “new post”.  We were promised a paperless office, a paperless world long ago, but it never happened.  It’s funny to keep bumping into … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Popular music & culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wallis Giunta Sins

Posted on March 24, 2013 by barczablog

When is a recital not a recital?  Perhaps when its materials and its assembly begin to outgrow that narrow definition, to resemble something bigger and more exciting; so it would seem on the basis of Wallis Giunta’s program Sunday March … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Love’s Dark Shore

Posted on February 12, 2013 by barczablog

How apt that in the week of Valentine’s Day, between performances of Tristan und Isolde, a paean to love, that the Canadian Opera  Company should present a concert program titled “Love’s Dark Shore” in the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium.  We heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Radical Cycle

Posted on September 30, 2012 by barczablog

When you think about it, the notion of a “radical cycle” is a bit of an oxymoron.  Cycles are usually understood to be stable and repeating, which is hard to imagine if something is radical. Radical Cycle is also the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unfinished Sympathy

Posted on August 21, 2012 by barczablog

In the Tuesday gatherings of Mallarmé and his followers, poems, plays, or songs might be performed to an appreciative audience.  Nobody minded if the work being auditioned was unfinished.  A glimpse of a dream could be every bit as powerful.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The roots of sustainability

Posted on September 2, 2011 by barczablog

This is a continuation of my previous post, inspired by Hurricane Irene and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.  I’d lamented the loss of innocence that’s implied by the notion of global warming: that we can’t very well think of Nature as our … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mostly Frenchmen

Posted on August 24, 2011 by barczablog

I am so lucky that I made it to Lincoln Center in New York City this week for the big summer music festival, when Mostly Mozart Festival is admittedly mostly over. This is a festival probing interesting connections and juxtapositions … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment