Tag Archives: Sergei Rachmaninoff

Varieties of virtuosity: an interview with Piano Lunaire founder Adam Sherkin

Posted on February 2, 2025 by barczablog

Last month I was delighted to discover Adam Sherkin at a free noon-hour concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, a brilliant pianist & composer I probably should have heard sooner and founder of Piano Lunaire. I jumped at the chance … Continue reading →

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

Thinking about Richard Strauss’s death in 1949

Posted on August 29, 2024 by barczablog

On September 8, 1949 composer and conductor Richard Strauss died after a long productive life. I think of him as a romantic composer carrying on the stylistic traditions of Richard Wagner. In Salome and Elektra he was the modernist pushing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toronto Summer Music Metamorphosis

Posted on July 7, 2023 by barczablog

Tonight was the opening concert of Toronto Summer Music, a festival running until July 29th in several performance spaces around Toronto. For a festival such as this one with the dual objectives of showcasing performance and training artists in its … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Yuja Wang’s Rachmaninoff

Posted on June 19, 2023 by barczablog

What’s in a name. “Yuja Wang’s Rachmaninoff” was the title of the final program to bring the Toronto Symphony 100th Anniversary Season to a powerful close. All three concerts were sold out. We knew why we wanted to be there, … Continue reading →

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

The Music of Our Time: John Williams at 90

Posted on February 4, 2022 by barczablog

It can be awe-inspiring to look at a composer’s lifetime of work. We know that JS Bach composed over 1,000 pieces in his 65 years, while Mozart, who lived only 35 years, composed perhaps 600 pieces. Yet we only care … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wohin: where do we go from here? now what?

Posted on December 31, 2020 by barczablog

As we come to the end of 2020, we may wonder. Where do we go from here? Now what? It’s in that spirit that I invoke a Schubert song, “Wohin” from his cycle Die Schöne Müllerin. First there was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Schirmer Serenade: a cure for Sam’s insomnia

Posted on December 27, 2020 by barczablog

Last night Sam the dog went to bed but didn’t close her eyes. It’s disturbing. As you may have read in other recent posts, she’s sick. The liver isn’t working right, an incurable malady whether you’re a human or a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Kayla Wong – Allure

Posted on October 5, 2014 by barczablog

I’ve been listening to Kayla Wong’s CD Allure incessantly in my car for the past couple of weeks. Wong emailed me to tell me about herself and the recording. I listened to a couple of samples, deciding that yes this … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments