Tag Archives: Toronto Summer Music

TSM Metamorphosis

Posted on July 29, 2023 by barczablog

Toronto Summer Music’s theme is the same as the title for last night’s concert, namely “metamorphosis”. I’m writing about it Saturday on the closing weekend of the festival. I’ve been pondering that word over and over in response to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Aaron Schwebel, Carl Lyons, Francis Poulenc, Johannes Brahms, Jonathan Crow, Keith Hamm, Koerner Hall, Michelle Cann, Rémi Pelletier, Richard Strauss, Royal Conservatory of Music, Rudolph Leopold, Sheila Jaffé, Toronto Summer Music, University of Toronto | Leave a comment

TSM J’Nai Bridges

Posted on July 28, 2023 by barczablog

The drama of tonight’s Toronto Summer Music Recital at Koerner Hall was as much about the one who didn’t sing (Sondra Radvanovsky) as the one who did (J’Nai Bridges). I’m sympathetic to Sondra however much I may have wished to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged J'nai Bridges, Johannes Brahms, John Carter, Koerner Hall, Maurice Ravel, Rachael Kerr, Sondra Radvanovsky), Toronto Summer Music | Leave a comment

The Butterfly Project

Posted on July 13, 2023 by barczablog

Teiya Kasahara gave the first iteration of a self-exploratory monologue from Amplified Opera tonight at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in Walter Hall. It’s called The Butterfly Project because it’s to be an ongoing investigation, inviting us to explore the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrea Wong, David Belasco, Giacomo Puccini, John Luther Long, madama butterfly, Nikkei, Teiya Kasahara, Toronto Summer Music | Leave a comment

Beethoven encore with Crow and Chiu

Posted on July 31, 2021 by barczablog

Toronto Summer Music’s 2021 Festival season concludes this weekend. In a year when theatre, opera & classical music have mostly been clinging to a precarious life through online presentations, this year’s festival was certainly a bit different, mixing vimeo links … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Gavin Fraser, Grace Church on-the-Hill, Jonathan Crow, Kreutzer Sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Philip Chiu, Scheherazade, semiotics, Toronto Summer Music, Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 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

Kreutzer rather than Bridgetower

Posted on July 27, 2021 by barczablog

2020 was to have been the Beethoven year, the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 1770. But of course the plans for operas, plays or concerts collided with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Thank goodness Toronto Summer Music … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged George Bridgetower, Jonathan Crow, Kreutzer Sonata, Leon Tolstoy, Leos Janacek, Ludwig van Beethoven, Rodolphe Kreutzer, Toronto Summer Music | 1 Comment

Crow Comes Out

Posted on July 30, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight’s concert at Walter Hall –“Europe and the New World”—in the Toronto Summer Music Festival put artistic director Jonathan Crow into the spotlight. He seems very comfortable there. That’s what I’m getting at with the headline. Our concert was sold … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Angel Blue, Cesar Franck, Eric Owens, George Gershwin, Healey Willan, Jascha Heifetz, Johannes Brahms, John Corigliano, Jonathan Crow, Philip Chiu, Porgy and Bess, Toronto Summer Music, Walter Hall, Walter Homburger | Leave a comment

New Orford celebrate their first decade

Posted on July 13, 2019 by barczablog

Two for two. It’s the second night of the 2019 Toronto Summer Music Festival and again it felt like a special event, this time in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the New Orford String quartet. There’s a natural connection … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Andrew Wan, Brian Manker, Christos Hatzis, Eric Nowlin, Jonathan Crow, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, New Orford String Quartet, Toronto Summer Music | Leave a comment

Beyond Borders with Toronto Summer Music

Posted on July 12, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight was the opening concert of Toronto Summer Music, running until August 3rd at multiple venues in Toronto. In this the third year of Jonathan Crow’s tenure as Artistic Director the talent pool seems a bit deeper, suggesting exciting days … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Adrianne Pieczonka, Chopin, Four Last Songs, John Greer, Jonathan Crow, Kerson Leong, Koerner Hall, New Orford String Quartet, Richard Strauss, Steven Philcox, Toronto Summer Music | 2 Comments

L’Histoire du Toronto Summer Music

Posted on July 20, 2018 by barczablog

It was all there tonight, on the stage of Koerner Hall. Sometimes concerts are microcosms that allow you to see and grasp everything in one lucid moment. It’s the second year of Jonathan Crow’s tenure as Artistic Director of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera | Tagged Alaina Viau, Derek Boyes, Jennifer Nichols, Jonathan Crow, Kelly Zimba, Koerner Hall, Miles Jaques, Suzanne Roberts Smith, Toronto Summer Music, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSM Academy Fellows, TSO Chamber Soloists | Leave a comment