(Credit: Markus Gårder)

The Drottningholms Slottsteater in Sweden was forced to cancel the premiere of Georg Friedrich Händel’s opera “Agrippina” due to COVID-19.

On August 7, 2021, the theater’s General Manager Anna Karinsdotter alongside director Staffan Valdemar Holm informed the audience that one of the singers in the production tested positive for the virus and as result, the theater was forced to cancel the performance. Per sources of the Swedish Radio, the soloist had developed symptoms of the disease.

According to sources, the theater did extensive daily COVID-19 testing and other precautionary measures in order to protect its performers.

The opera was set to star Nahuel Di Pierro as Claudio, Bruno de Sá as Nerone, Roberta Mameli as Poppea, and Ann Hallenberg in the title role. Francesco Corti was set to conduct the production by Staffan Valdemar Holm.