(Credit: Gran Teatre del Liceu official website)

The Opéra National de Paris and Gran Teatre del Liceu have announced that they have been forced to postpone the first joint project scheduled for the 2021-22 season.

The decision comes on the heels of a drastic increase of COVID-19 cases throughout Europe due to new Omicron variant.

The two institutions have agreed that the historic exchange of orchestras, which was set to take place this season, will instead happen during the 2022-23 season, which coincides with the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Consequently, the concert performance of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” at the Opéra Bastille scheduled for Jan. 9, 2022 has been postponed with a new date to be announced. Maestro Josep Pons was set to conduct the Liceu orchestra, Aušrinė Stundytė and Sir Bryn Terfel in the title role. The two opera houses have already had to cancel the concert of Maestro Dudamel that was scheduled for Nov. 21, 2021 due to ongoing concerns over the pandemic. Dudamel was set to conduct the Opéra National de Paris’ orchestra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

“Both opera institutions deeply regret the postponement of this project, as well as the inconvenience that rescheduling may cause. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Liceu has worked to keep the safe cultural activity alive from all angles, always collaborating with other organizations and modifying its programming to gradually and progressively adapt to this extraordinary situation. The Liceu once again thanks all the groups that have made this task possible, proud to have carried out this goal successfully,” said the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the official press statement.