The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has announced that performances will be suspended until Feb. 28, 2021.

In a statement, the company announced that “due to new regulations issued by the authorities, we are obliged to extend the suspension of performances until February 28. This means that the performances of ‘Die Walküre’ in February must be canceled. The premiere scheduled for January 29, 2021 was canceled earlier.”

As a result of the pandemic, the Finnish Opera announced that it will postpone all remaining Ring Cycle productions to ensure that they can be staged and that they will be able to be performed to a full auditorium with a full orchestra. The company announced that “Die Walküre” will now premiere in August 2022 while the last two installments will receive new dates in the coming weeks.

Other changes to the production include a new conductor. Hannu Lintu, who will begin his tenure as Chief Conductor on August 1, 2021, will take over the future Ring productions, conducting all the three remaining operas: “Die Walküre,” “Siegfried,” and “Götterdämmerung.”

Artistic Director Lilli Paasikivi noted, ”The re-scheduling of The Ring productions will also result in major conductor changes. At this point, both Esa-Pekka Salonen and Susanna Mälkki will step down from the production. We’re grateful to Susanna for her untiring work on the current ‘Walküre’ production and also to Esa-Pekka for his inspiration for this cycle. We are looking forward to keeping both these precious artists closely affiliated with our institution. The RING will now continue to grow in the experienced hands of our new Chief Conductor Hannu Lintu.”

The company also announced the cancelation of its new production of “Swan Lake” and is looking to reschedule it for a later season.