(Credit: Wolfgang Runkel)

(UPDATE: While the following theaters are not performing for live audiences, they are streaming live concerts from various platforms. For more information, check out our streaming section of OperaWire.com) 

The Oper Frankfurt and Staatsoper Stuttgart have announced that they will extend the closure until at least June 2021 due to the worsening epidemiological situation in Germany. Meanwhile, the Nationaltheater Mannheim has announced that it will shut down until further notice.

The Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Nationaltheather Mannheim thus join Berlin opera houses, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Staatstheater Cottbus, the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and the Semperoper Dresden in extending closures.

The German Parliament has adopted changes to the Infection Protection Act, giving the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal cabinet the power to impose more drastic COVID-19 measures without consultation of the federal states. The federal states will have to comply with the decision of the Federal government.

Cultural venues and leisure facilities must stay closed until the seven-day incidence rate drops below 100 for five consecutive days. The new legislation thus adds to the greater uncertainty over any prospective reopening, making planning almost impossible.

The current seven-day incidence in Frankfurt stands at 196.2, while the seven-day incidence in Mannheim stands at 210.8. The current seven-day incidence in Stuttgart stands at 202.4.