Tag Archives: Toronto Symphony Orchestra

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 →

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Glimpses of The Eternal Feminine with Barbara Hannigan

Posted on February 15, 2019 by barczablog

When I posted that photo at lunch earlier today from last night’s Toronto Symphony concert, I joked that Barbara Hannigan is a precedent setter. Even so I understated what we saw & heard tonight. With one exception, the five works … Continue reading →

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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 , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Toronto Symphony–Mendelssohn Choir Messiah

Posted on December 19, 2018 by barczablog

Toronto is Messiah town, as I’ve joked before. Handel’s most popular Biblical oratorio is everywhere at this time of year. Tonight I took in the second of six offered this week by the Toronto Symphony, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and … Continue reading →

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Thomas Søndergård leads the TSO

Posted on October 21, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight was the second of two consecutive concerts of the Toronto Symphony conducted by Danish maestro Thomas Søndergård, a spectacular program devoured by an eager audience showing off the strengths of the orchestra: Thomas Adès: Dances from Powder Her face … Continue reading →

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Han-Na Chang and Javier Perianes: Mahler & Ravel

Posted on October 4, 2018 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony played a mid-week concert tonight to a rapturous reception. The TSO are in a transition, awaiting their new music director while playing either with their interim Artistic director Andrew Davis, or with a series of guests.  There … Continue reading →

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A new start with the old guy

Posted on September 23, 2018 by barczablog

A very long time ago I was a Toronto Symphony subscriber watching Andrew Davis conduct the TSO. We’re both much older now. Tonight’s concert at Roy Thomson Hall was the launch of a new season with a new leader stepping … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Oundjian Ode to Joy

Posted on June 30, 2018 by barczablog

Tomorrow will be the last concert in this month-long celebration of Peter Oundjian’s tenure with the Toronto Symphony. I would have gone tomorrow but unfortunately I have to be somewhere else, and will miss that last encounter between orchestra & … Continue reading →

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Plummer, Shakespeare & Oundjian

Posted on June 27, 2018 by barczablog

Tonight’s concert, the latest in the month-long Toronto Symphony celebration of Peter Oundjian, was like a cross between a pops concert and a play reading, titled “Christopher Plummer’s Symphonic Shakespeare”. It was like “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits”, a series of textual … Continue reading →

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