Barczablog is like a public diary, a place where I reflect & offer opinions. It should be no surprise that in such a self-centred medium I should write about a Barcza occasionally. In those instances I’m more reticent, whether I’m speaking of Zoe Barcza (my daughter), Peter Barcza (my operatic baritone brother) or even myself, because I fear that my observations about a Barcza will be suspect, biased.
This time my taste preferences are front and centre. I enjoy being an enthusiast, energized by beauty & wit. On this occasion I’m interviewing a constant inspiration to me, whose work I admire. I’m speaking of Connie Barcza aka Constance Adorno Barcza who is married to my brother Peter. Yes she’s a family member, whose photography adorns the walls in my house. I’m lucky to be able to see her prolific output through Facebook where you may have seen some of her remarkable pictures.
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Connie has been taking pictures for a long time. I’ve been an admirer of her work but golly gee, I realized as we came up to Christmas that I don’t know anything about what she thinks, about her process, and recognized this could be a wonderful interview.
Oh sure every now and then I ask about her work from across the room or dinner table given that we eat together a few times every year in a house where some of her pictures can be seen. Constance Adorno Barcza came into my life through my brother Peter, to whom she has been married since 1983. But I’m way overdue asking some of these questions. So I figure why not do this here on the blog, where I can share her work to the public.
Barczablog: Are you more like your father or your mother?
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Constance Adorno Barcza: Temperamentally, more like my dad. Despite a mischievous streak, he was quieter, more reserved than my mom, who was very outgoing, gregarious and chatty. I’m an introvert and I actually had to teach myself how to socialize with people. It didn’t/doesn’t come naturally to me. But it’s interesting when we often see traits of both parents in ourselves, and their personalities were so opposite.
My interest in singing started in high school, when at times choir was the only saving grace for me. I had good grades – and in fact am a big believer in lifelong learning – but just having to sit in class all day long was so confining. On the other hand, “Glee Club” was pure pleasure. So when it came time to choose a major in university, the pinnacle to which I could aspire was teaching high school choir. I hadn’t even had a voice lesson at that point, and I was lucky the university accepted me into the Bachelor of Music Education program, majoring in voice. But soon after I started taking voice lessons, I was bitten by the opera bug. After I did my mandatory student teaching, I never actually used my teacher’s degree. I remember the first time I sang at a wedding and was handed an envelope marked, “Singer”. I was paid $10. Luckily, I did earn a bit more than that in later years!
Here’s a funny thing. Recently when I was going through old memorabilia, I came across an 8th grade graduation “memory book”. In answer to the question, “What do you want to be?” I had written “actress or photographer”. I have no recollection of writing that. The “actress” part surfaced many years later in my opera studies, and even later, the photography interest re-appeared.
BB: What is the best or worst thing about what you do?
Constance Adorno Barcza: The best thing about what I do now is that I’m retired! After many years working in law offices I decided I wanted to do something that was more meaningful to me, so I went back to university, earned a diploma in Gerontology and worked for several years in Recreation in long-term care/retirement residences. This was a real departure for me; it was very rewarding work and I’m glad I did it. I retired from that a few years ago, and now my time is more my own, which is quite a luxury. Maybe the worst thing is that it’s also sometimes too easy to goof off and accomplish very little!
BB: Who do you like to listen to or watch?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Old movies. I have a strong nostalgia streak. I’m especially partial to movies of the 1930’s and 40’s. Are they largely dated? Sure. Do I care? No. And I never tire of those wonderful movie scores – Steiner, Newman, Korngold, Herrmann, etc.!
BB: What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?
Constance Adorno Barcza: To be able to play the piano. I actually minored in piano in my undergraduate years, but it was very minor indeed and I can’t really play. Just to sit down and play “lounge lizard” piano would be so much fun. And to play classical music would be amazing.
BB: When you’re just relaxing and not working, what is your favourite thing to do?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Walking. Reading. Gardening. Browsing in bookstores, libraries, antique shops. Surfing the Internet. Matching wits with hubby in word games and trivia quizzes. Genealogy has been a hobby for quite a few years, and I enjoy the detective aspect of it. I recently researched and wrote an article about a costume designer cousin whom I’d heard of but never met and it was published in an Italian-American newsletter based in New Orleans.
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BB: What was your first experience of music?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I have a vague memory of a 45 rpm record with a song about a bunny. I must have been very young. “There was a funny bunny in a town not far away, and everything he did, he did the other way…” It was in a minor key, so you know it involved pathos! I can recall my tears of sympathy for the bunny, but also being so happy that at the end of the song (by that time in a major key) the words were “…but everybody loved him just the same.” I don’t know if I identified with the bunny or if this was a first lesson in empathy!
My mom sang around the house constantly. That’s why I know so many songs from the 1930’s and 40’s. She had no vocal training but had a natural singing voice and was innately musical.
My brother, who was ten years older than I (and a talented drummer), introduced me to orchestral music and things like the Barber of Seville overture – and even later, the music of Stan Kenton. I know I was the only kid in the neighborhood who listened to Stan Kenton!
Of course, in New Orleans traditional jazz was all around. It was like a soundtrack to everyday life. It was the air that we breathed. I grew up with it and still love it.
BB: What is your favorite opera?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Not even remotely possible to choose just one, but I will say that I’m partial to Puccini, mostly for his gift of melody. And of course, Verdi. I lean heavily toward Italian and French operas. Not generally very keen on modern operas, however.
BB: Singers come out of training programs, including the ensemble studio of the COC. And then what? Some people can make a living, some can’t. Stratford Festival and National Ballet function as places to employ almost 100% Canadian talent. Yet the fiction is out there that we need to bring in singers from abroad. Can you imagine Canadian opera with Canadian personnel?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Yes. Some years ago, I had the opportunity to obtain the actual original charter of the COC (unfortunately lost to me now), and I remember that the mandate stated in no uncertain terms that the company’s mission was to promote Canadian talent. I have no problem with occasionally importing non-Canadian superstars, but certainly many, if not most, roles could – and should, in my view – be filled with Canadians. That was the mandate of the company.
BB: You’re a native of New Orleans, living in Canada. Talk about reconciling where you came from and where you are.
Constance Adorno Barcza: Two different worlds. But then, New Orleans is different from anywhere else. I came to Canada to attend the University of Toronto Opera Department’s two-year post-baccalaureate program. I didn’t know at the time that I would stay in Canada beyond that. In my mind my life is sort of geographically compartmentalized – New Orleans is still my emotional home, even though I left many years ago and I’m not able to go back as often as I’d like. But I also feel as if I left at least part of my soul in Florence, Italy, where I lived for the better part of a year while continuing my vocal studies. Each place has its particular charms.
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BB: I’m a fan of your photos. How did you start?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Well, thanks! When I was in 8th grade, I got my first 35mm camera, a Kodak Pony 135. I learned all about the settings, the “F” stops, etc. Nowadays I actually wouldn’t even know how to work it. Somehow over the years, photography slipped away. Then in 2008 I got my first digital camera on the occasion of a trip back to Florence, and that re-awakened my interest.
When we started spending some of the year in Vancouver, I started with my walks and photographed mostly flowers at first. Gradually I added different subjects. Still lots of flowers, but really, now I just photograph whatever sparks my interest.
BB: What is the earliest photograph you still have?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I still have a few which I snapped with that old Kodak – all black and white – mostly just of childhood friends and family.
BB: What equipment do you use?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I know that most people nowadays use their phones for taking photos, and I know that the technology is good, but I don’t own a cell phone. (A whole other story!) I use a simple, point-and-shoot digital camera. Nothing fancy. I’ve had several since that first one in 2008 – Fujifilm, Sony, etc. At the moment I use a Canon PowerShot 1400. I’m an amateur, and I say that not in a denigrating way, but thinking more about the root of the word as related to “lover”. I take photos because I love doing it. I have tremendous respect for professional photographers and really enjoy seeing their work, but I’m not one of them.
BB: What are some of your favorite places to take a picture?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Vancouver, our Toronto garden, back home in New Orleans, Florence when we can get there.
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BB: What are your favorite subjects?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Natural beauty appeals to me the most. But I snap whatever seems to me to be a photo waiting to happen. Flowers, trees, mountains, architecture, animals, scenic views, quirky stuff that I come across on my walks – whatever.
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BB: Do you have any pointers for those of us who use our cameras to take pictures?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I see a lot of photos in which a cluttered background basically ruins what could have been a good shot. I will reluctantly pass up an otherwise good photo op if there’s just no way around a jumbled, distracting background. People should try to be aware of the background before snapping the shutter. And notice where the light source is coming from. Backlit photos are usually problematic unless you’re going for a specific effect.
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BB: You studied at the Opera School, and are a witness to how opera is being taught. If you could tell the institutions how to train future artists for a career in opera, what would you change?
Constance Adorno Barcza: Good question. There’s the art of opera and there’s the business. During my opera studies years ago, I really didn’t have much of an idea about the business aspect of it. It’s never been easy to make a living as an opera singer, but nowadays promoting oneself, making connections and “packaging” is the norm. A necessary evil, perhaps? There are still no guarantees, of course, no matter how slick the package.
BB: What are your favourite places and do you have pictures?
Constance Adorno Barcza: New Orleans, Florence, Vancouver.
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BB: What about pictures of people?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I only very rarely take photos of people, as I don’t really have a knack for portraiture, although I’ve had a few lucky shots on occasion.
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BB: What are your favourite animals to photograph?
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Constance Adorno Barcza: Cats, squirrels, crows, raccoons.
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Challenging because they move so quickly!
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BB: Some people carry large cameras about, but can’t walk as far without driving. Talk about how you reconcile walks with your camera as a daily practice vs special picture – taking.
Constance Adorno Barcza: Well, my walks and photo-taking are basically one and the same. I never leave the house without my camera, and it’s small enough to fit into my pocket. But I don’t really go on special photo expeditions.
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BB: Do you have a preference between closeup or vista compositions..?
Constance Adorno Barcza: I like them both, but will have to get a more serious camera for super close-up, macro work.
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BB: How do you understand your own practice(?), do you take a picture every day? Do you look back at the pictures you’ve taken to edit or cull? Please reflect on how you approach picture taking and how you curate your collection.
Constance Adorno Barcza: I love the idea of freezing a moment in time. Capturing fleeting beauty. That goes along with my strong sense of nostalgia.
There are photo ops everywhere. Obviously, not every photo is going to be special, but if you take enough of them, chances are you’ll get some keepers. The fun is in the doing.
It’s not unusual for me to go for a walk and come home with, say, 40+ photos. Then I transfer them to my laptop, cull, and often crop them and sharpen a bit if necessary. Cropping is one of the best tools because it enables you to spotlight different aspects of the subject. I don’t normally use filters unless I’m going for a special effect, and then it’s really fun to fiddle around with that and other photo app features.
One thing – I’ve had people ask me how I see so many photo ops. I tell them those opportunities are all there, available for anyone to see, enjoy and photograph should they care to. But I notice on my walks that so many people are so busy talking on their phones, texting, etc. that they’re completely missing the world around them. And it can be a pretty interesting world!
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