Updates on Opera House Closings in Europe Due to Coronavirus

By Francisco Salazar

A number of opera houses in Europe have announced cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Among the houses that have closed are Deutsche Oper Berlin (March 11-April 19), the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (Until April 3), the Theater an der Wien, Staatsoper Berlin, Komische Oper (until April 19), Berlin Philharmonic, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon, Deustche Oper am Rhein (Until April 2), and Oper Graz, among others. Additionally concert venues and halls in Berlin have closed. 

Other houses that have closed include Dresden Philharmonic, Tonhalle orchestra, and Oslo Philharmonic.

However, La Monnaie and Staatsoper Hamburg announced that they would continue open.

UPDATE 3/11: LA Monnaie has canceled all performances until March 31 in the Main Auditorium and at Bozar.

UPDATE 3/12: The Bergen National Opera will cancel its production of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” while all concert halls and opera houses including Opera Bucharest have canceled performances until March 22.

Oper Koeln and its Philharmonic have canceled all performances until April 10.

The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced that all performances from March 13 through April 30.

The Semperoper Dresden has closed until April 19

Preparations for the 2020 Baden-Baden Easter Festival have been suspended, and planning with the ⁦Berlin Philharmonic  for a replacement program in the autumn has begun.

UPDATE: 3/13 France has banned all gather of more than 100 people.

The Opera de Lille has already canceled performances while the Opera de Nancy and Opera de Bordeaux waiting to learn more about the new measures.

La Monnaie will cancel all performances until April 5 and will reschedule “The Queen of Spades” for a later season.

The Palau de les Arts has canceled all activity as well as the Opera de Dijon, Opera de Marseille, Opera Fe Bordeaux, Opera du Rhin, Opera de Lyon, Staatstheater Mainz, and Opera de Nancy.

Opera Vlaanderen has canceled has extended its cancellation until May 24   due to a lack of rehearsal time.

The Palau de la Musica Catalana have canceled all activity until April 1.

The Opera Comique has canceled the premiere of “Macbeth Underworld. ”

The Grand Theatre de Geneve has announced it will cancel all performances while the Theater Wielki and Opera Wroclaw and the Opera Narodowa have all close for all of March.

The Dutch National Opera has closed it theater through March and Opera Royal de Wallonie has also canceled.

UPDATE: 3/16

The Theatre Capitole de Toulouse is cancelling all performances (including a new production of Platée) until April 4.

The Bolshoi Theatre is the first major Russian theater to close due to the outbreak. The company announced its will remain closed until April 10.

UPDATE: 3/17

Oper Frankfurt has closed until April 19

The Handel Festspiele has been canceled. Here is a look at the program that never happened. 

Moscow’s Helikon Opera⁩ has closed its doors until April 10.

The Mariinsky Theatre has closed until March 31.

The Teatro Real has canceled the upcoming production of Lear, which was scheduled for April 16-28, 2020.

UPDATE: 3/19

The Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has canceled the upcoming production of Verdi’s “Aida” starring Elina Garanča, María José Siri, and Alfred Kim under the direction Karel Mark Chichon.

UPDATE: 3/20

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has canceled its April production of “Rinaldo.” Veronica Simeoni, “L’Elisir d’Amore per i bambini,” and two concerts with Zubin Mehta have also been canceled.

UPDATE: 3/21

The Gran Teatre del Liceu will continue closed until May 3 canceling performances of Rossini’s “Semiramide.”

The Coronavirus has affected more than 170,000 people globally and 6,664 have died.

Among the theaters that have been closed to the outbreak include Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Regio di Parma, Greek National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and Bayerische Staatsoper among others. The virus has also led to the postponement of many concerts.

UPDATE: 3/23

The Opéra National de Bordeaux has announced that it will remain closed through April 30, 2020.

UPDATE: 3/25

The Vienna Philharmonic has postponed its Summer Night Concert from May to Sept. 18. The concert is scheduled to star Jonas Kaufmann and will feature music by Massenet, Puccini, and Kalman.

The Concertgebouw Amsterdam has suspended its performances until June 1.

Due to the current situation, the Deutsche Oper Berlin has canceled the premiere of Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades.” The production, staged by Graham Vick, will be presented at a later date.

UPDATE: 3/2

The Dutch government has has decided to to ban events and gatherings until June 1. The Dutch National Opera and Amsterdam’s Muziektheater will remain closed until June 1. 

UPDATE: 3/30

Wigmore Hall has canceled the rest of their season. The stage closed its doors until July 31.

UPDATE: 3/31

The Opera de Paris ha canceled its production of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold.”

The Royal Swedish Opera has canceled the end of its season.

The Sonning Music Price Concert on April 23 in Copenhagen, honoring Barbara Hannigan has been canceled.

UPDATE: 4/6/2020

The Rossini Concert at the Bilbao Opera starring Marianna Pizzolato, Paolo Fanale, Simón Orfila, and Joyce El-Khoury will be postponed

The Teatro San Carlo di Napoli has canceled its performances of  “I Puritani” starring Jessica Pratt scheduled to begin on May 24.

UPDATE: 4/7/2020

The Royal Danish Opera has canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season. Kasper Holten issued a statement noting, “Det Kongelige Teater will cancel all performances and activities for the audience for the rest of the season, as well as our Summer Ballet and Opera in the free country over this summer.”

Elena Stikhina has confirmed that “Adriana Lecouvreur at the Paris Opera has been canceled. The production was also set to star Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov.

UPDATE: 4/8/2020

Theater Dortmund has canceled all performances until May 31, 2020.

UPDATE: 4/9/2020

The Opera de Paris has canceled the new production of “Die Walküre.”

The Teatro Regio di Torino has announced that performances of “La bohème” have been rescheduled no longer in April but in next month of December 2020 while “La damnation de Faust” has been cancelled. Three of the four performances of the oratorio Matthäus-Passion will be reprogrammed until a later date.

UPDATE: 4/14/2020

Ibermusica in Spain has canceled the rest of its 2019-20 season including concerts originally postponed.

The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opera de Paris, Opera de Dijon, and Opera de Lille have canceled the remainder of the 2019-20.

UPDATE: 4/16/2020

The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced that its production of “Alcione” has been canceled. The production was set to open on May 16.

UPDATE: 4/18/2020

The Berlin State Opera has announced that all performances until May 3rd are cancelled in order to contribute to the containment of Covid-19. We expect to receive a decision by the authorities about the extended closure of our opera shortly. We’ll therefore also announce our further online program shortly.

Hamburg’s State Opera and Elb Philharmonie confirm that the shutdown has extended to June 28, effectively ending their seasons.

UPDATE: 4/21/2020

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, ⁦Theater Basel in Switzerland has cancelled all planned performances in May and June. The company is planning some renovation work so as to secure the start of next season in the autumn.

The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has canceled its new production of “Katya Kabanova” as recently reported.

UPDATE: 4/22/2020

The Teatro Cervantes in Malaga has canceled all its performances until June 23.

The Berlin State Opera has canceled all performances until July 31. The theater will refund ticket holders and announce new streams.

The Komische Oper Berlin has canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season.

The Deutsche Oper Berlin has canceled all performances until July 31.

UPDATE: 4/24/2020

Bilbao Opera has postponed the upcoming production of “Anna Bolena.” The company hopes to reschedule the work with the same cast.

The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has canceled all performances until May 30, which include performances of Suite en Blanc/Serenade/Bolero, “Luisa Miller” and Verdi’s Requiem.

The Staatskapelle Dresden and Staatsoper Hamburg has announced the cancellation of the remainder of its 2019-20 season.

The Semperoper Dresden has canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season.

UPDATE: 4/27/2020

Oper Koeln has canceled all performances including ones planned for July 2020.

The Royal Opera House has announced it will remains closed until July 23, 2020.

UPDATE: 4/30/2020

Opernhaus Zurich cancels the remainder of the 2019-20 season due to the extend lockdown.

UPDATE: 5/5/2020

Staatsoper Stuttgart has canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

UPDATE: 5/7/2020

The Gran Teatre del Liceu has canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

Opera de Paris has canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

UPDATE: 5/20/2020

The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has canceled the upcoming production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” originally slated for June 13-25, 2020.

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