BACKRiccardo Muti leads return of classical music
Riccardo Muti will lead Italy’s first public post-lockdown concert. On 21 June the Italian maestro takes to the stage with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra for the opening concert of the Ravenna Festival.Taking place in the open air at the Rocca Brancaleone fortress, the concert features a 60-piece orchestra who will be spaced according to social distancing guidelines. 250 people will attend, wearing masks and entering via a staggered access system.As for the programme itself, Muti will conduct Alexander Scriabin’s Rêverie Op 24, as well as three works by Mozart: Exultate, jubilate motet in F major; Et incarnatus est from the Mass in C minor; and Symphony No 41 in C major.
Österreich fährt kulturelles Leben wieder an
Österreich startet die ersten größeren Lockerungen der Corona-Sicherheitsmaßnahmen für die Kulturbranche. Ab kommenden Freitag sind wieder Veranstaltungen mit bis zu 100 Personen erlaubt. Kulturstaatssekretärin Andrea Mayer (Die Grünen) zufolge ist dabei nicht der Mindestabstand entscheidend, sondern der Mund-Nasen-Schutz. Auch auf den Bühnen ist das Abstandhalten demnach nicht erforderlich. Die Personengrenze soll in den kommenden Wochen stückweise angehoben werden: Ab Juli dürfen sich 250 Menschen im Publikum befinden, ab August 500. Legt ein Veranstalter ein genehmigtes Sicherheitskonzept vor, sind ab August auch 1.000 Gäste erlaubt. Gesundheitsminister Rudi Anschober (Die Grünen) bestätigte außerdem, dass Kinos ebenfalls ab Juli öffnen dürften.
Austria restarts cultural life
Austria launches the first major relaxation of corona security measures for the cultural sector. Starting next Friday, events with up to 100 people will again be permitted. According to Secretary of State for Culture Andrea Mayer (The Greens), it is not the minimum distance that is decisive here, but the mouth-nose protection. This means that spacing is not necessary on stages either. The limit for persons is to be raised step by step in the coming weeks: Starting in July, 250 people will be allowed in the audience, starting in August 500. If an organizer submits an approved safety concept, 1,000 guests will also be allowed starting in August. Health Minister Rudi Anschober (The Greens) also confirmed that cinemas may also open from July.
Musique classique : les artistes regagnent les salles de concert… pas le public
Pour les musiciens en général, et les orchestres symphoniques en particulier, le déconfinement s’effectue très lentement, et le retour à la normale n’est pas pour demain. En France, la saison 2019/2020 est officiellement terminée dans toutes les maisons de concert et d’opéra et la plupart des grands festivals d’été ont été contraints à l’annulation ou au report. Des études médicales (contestées) pointent les risques de contamination particuliers associés aux instruments à vent et aux voix. Une grande incertitude demeure en outre sur la possibilité de rouvrir au public les salles en septembre. Sachant qu’une éventuelle reprise ne pourra se faire qu’avec des jauges réduites et des conditions drastiques en matière d’accueil du public et d’organisation des formations orchestrales et chorales. Les expériences de concerts à huis clos effectuées dès le mois d’avril en Allemagne font école en France. À côté du streaming et des rediffusions, qui n’ont pas cessé, il est désormais possible aux mélomanes d’assister, le plus souvent en ligne et parfois « en vrai », à des concerts inédits. Petit panorama des premiers rendez-vous printaniers dans le lien ci dessous:
Classical music: the artists return to the concert halls… not the audience.
For musicians in general, and symphony orchestras in particular, the end of quarantine is very slow, and the return to normal is not for tomorrow. In France, the 2019/2020 season is officially over in all concert and opera houses, and most major summer festivals have been forced to cancel or postpone. (Contested) medical studies point to the particular contamination risks associated with wind instruments and voices. There is also considerable uncertainty about the possibility of reopening the halls to the public in September. It is known that a possible reopening will only be possible with reduced gauges and drastic conditions in terms of reception of the public and the organisation of orchestral and choral groups. The experience of concerts behind closed doors, which began in April in Germany, is now being used in France. In addition to streaming and reruns, which have not ceased, it is now possible for music lovers to attend new concerts, most often online and sometimes “in real life”. Small panorama of the first spring events in the link below:
The Fall of Autumn: Live Performance Producers Are Giving Up on 2020
Uncertainty about the coronavirus and the challenge of protecting audiences and artists is prompting many prominent presenters to wait till next year. In the world of performing arts, the coronavirus pandemic has already sunk summer. Now it is felling fall. Even as reopened barbershops, beaches and bookstores herald the resumption of economic life across America, concert promoters, theater presenters, orchestras and dance companies are ripping up their 2020 calendars and hoping 2021 will mark a new beginning. “I think 2020 is gone,” said Anna D. Shapiro, the artistic director of Chicago’s storied Steppenwolf Theater Company. “I’ll be stunned if we’re back in the theater.” In pop music, the superstars Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber have canceled their performances this year, and there’s not much hope for other large events. “It doesn’t seem likely we are going to open in the fall,” said Jay Marciano, the chairman of AEG Presents, one of the industry’s biggest promoters.
