(Credits: Picture-Alliance/DPA/U. Mauder/Mariinsky Theatre Official website) COVID-19 has struck the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres. According to the sources close to the Mariinsky Theatre that spoke to the RBC reporters, a large number of artists at the Mariinsky Theatre fell sick with COVID-19. According to the same sources, all the rehearsals of the ballet “Giselle” have been postponed, and artists who {…}
(Photo Credit: E. Blaževič/LRT nuotr.) The Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet has decided to suspend its activities starting immediately due to the rising COVID-19 threat. Performances of the ballet “Giselle” slated for August 12, 13 & 14 have been postponed for September. Specific dates will be announced on a later occasion. The latest development at the LNOBT comes two days {…}
(Image source: Pittsburgh Opera official website) Pittsburgh Opera has announced its 2020-21 resident artists. The roster will include sopranos Madeline Ehlinger and Véronique Filloux, mezzo-soprano Maire Carmack, bass Jeremy Harr, baritone Yazid Gray, tenor Angel Romero, and stage director Kaley Karis Smith. The Resident Artist singers will be the main cast for all Pittsburgh Opera’s productions in the new season, {…}
(Credit: (c) Tourismus Salzburg GmbH, Günter Breitegger) The management of the Salzburg Festival has decided to ban the usage of cooling fans during performances, for safety reasons related to COVID-19 circumstances. The festival has adopted strict hygiene measures in order to keep both the artists and audiences safe during performances. All artists are regularly tested for COVID-19, and they have {…}
(Credit: David Bebber/Reuters) The English National Opera will take part in”ENO Breathe,” a rehabilitation program aimed at supporting patients recovering from COVID-19. The six-week first phase I of the program will employ lullabies to help teach patients techniques that will focus on their breathing. In Phase II, the ENO and medical experts at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust around the {…}
(Image Source: Facebook / Andrea Bocelli) Famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli had harsh words for the Italian government last Monday, saying that he was “humiliated and offended” by the coronavirus lockdown. “I could not leave the house even though I had committed no crime,” Bocelli stated. Tenor further explained that he had disobeyed the lockdown rules and believed that the {…}
(Credit: Emmerson Productions Snape Maltings) Edit: Number of new COVID-19 cases in the UK was 846 the day of the publication of this article. Openings of theatres and concert halls with a live audience in the UK, particularly those planned for August 1, have been delayed by at least a period of two weeks. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced {…}
Opera San José has announced plans to create the Fred Heiman Digital Media Studio, a state-of-the-art performance space housed within Opera San José headquarters in Northern California. The project demonstrates OSJ’s commitment to presenting the first half of its 2020 – 21 season while safeguarding audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by Opera San José trustee Peggy Heiman in honor {…}
(Credit: Frances Marshall) “Opera in the Times of COVID” is an interview series in collaboration with photographer Frances Marshall of Marshall Light Studio. We talk to notable figures from around the opera world to get their perspective on how they feel these challenging times may change opera’s present and future. Mark Campbell doesn’t mince words. He’s written dozens of librettos {…}
Germany’s Minister of Culture Monika Grütters has put into plan a means of helping artists receive a percentage of the payment from prior contracts. Per the governments own statements, cultural institutions funded by the federal government will pay artists up to 60 percent of their fee as a cancelation fee if the event they were contracted for was canceled due {…}