Tag Archives: Toronto Symphony

Beethoven’s Eroica and Goodyear’s Callaloo: TSO’s triumph

Posted on May 29, 2025 by barczablog

Tonight the Toronto Symphony continue their winning streak, another wonderful program of diverse musical compositions, played brilliantly. A key contributor to our enjoyment was guest conductor Kristiina Poska. We heard three pieces tonight after the obligatory Oh Canada performance. Speaking … Continue reading →

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COC gets Eugene Onegin

Posted on May 5, 2025 by barczablog

It seems like Tchaikovsky season in Toronto. Yuja Wang played his 1st piano concerto with the Toronto Symphony a couple of weeks ago, and the TSO play his 6th Symphony later this week. This weekend the Canadian Opera Company have … Continue reading →

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Yuja Wang plays Tchaikovsky with the Toronto Symphony

Posted on April 17, 2025 by barczablog

I have never seen Roy Thomson Hall as full as it was tonight, Wednesday April 16th. They had a cop directing the cars out of the underground parking garage: because so many people came to see Yuja Wang play the … Continue reading →

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Jan Lisiecki plays Beethoven concerti

Posted on February 6, 2025 by barczablog

I’m going to stop calling Jan Lisiecki a young pianist. I just looked up his birthday, saw that on March 23rd he turns 30. But it’s not about the numbers. Tonight I heard the first of two concerts from Jan … Continue reading →

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Stunning serendipity as John Adams Returns

Posted on November 7, 2024 by barczablog

The concert is titled “John Adams Returns”. Toronto Symphony seemed prescient in welcoming the composer this week to conduct a program including some of his own works. It’s uncanny. By the serendipity of the calendar tonight’s concert had a special … Continue reading →

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Mahler’s Fifth and Berg’s early songs

Posted on November 24, 2023 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony’s program for this week is a surprisingly powerful combination. We open with 17 minutes of passionate singing by mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, seven songs composed by Alban Berg (1885-1935) between 1905 and 1908. After intermission we settle in … Continue reading →

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Visions of Spain, Glimpses of Gimeno

Posted on April 3, 2023 by barczablog

This past week’s Toronto Symphony concert offering “Visions of Spain” also gave a few interesting perspectives on their new Spanish-born music director Gustavo Gimeno. After two rather obscure pieces before intermission, we proceeded to three of the most well-known pieces … Continue reading →

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Gimeno conducts Beethoven 5

Posted on March 23, 2023 by barczablog

Wednesday night was the latest example of the remarkable chemistry we see, hear and feel between the Toronto Symphony and their new music director Gustavo Gimeno, continuing the magic of their 100th anniversary season. Last night’s program included Madrigal: Celebration … Continue reading →

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From the Met: Jocelyn and Dean create a Hamlet

Posted on June 5, 2022 by barczablog

Adapting a play into an opera can be fascinating work, especially when it’s as well-known a play as Hamlet. I’ve seen several attempts to turn this play into something else including a couple of musicals, an opera long ago, and … Continue reading →

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Dynamic Duo: Hannigan & Storgårds

Posted on September 20, 2019 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony’s opening concert welcomed the “dynamic duo”, soprano Barbara Hannigan and violinist John Storgårds. Each did some conducting, and each took a turn as a soloist. While it was not a long evening it felt like a lot … Continue reading →

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