BACKCulture Secretary Oliver Dowden launches Operation Sleeping Beauty
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has revealed that his officials are working on Operation Sleeping Beauty, a plan to bring performances back in time for Christmas.
“In recent weeks, we’ve all been thinking and talking about the Proms. I for one can’t wait to be back in the Royal Albert Hall next year, singing Land Of Hope And Glory at full voice,” said Dowden. “I have very fond childhood memories of watching at home every year with my grandma, and hope to be one of the first through the doors next year.
To get audiences back into our venues in much larger numbers though, we’re going to have to innovate and be bold to save the things we love.”
While the focus of the plan is on the return of live theatre for family audiences in time for Christmas, Dowden has made clear that he is aiming to bring back music performances too.
Oper in Corona-Zeiten: «Niemand denkt aktuell an «Parsifal»»
Kaum eine Sparte der Hochkultur treffen die Auflagen zur Eindämmung der Corona-Pandemie so schwer wie die Oper. Ein großer Chor auf der Bühne, Bläser im Orchestergraben – in diesem Herbst unmöglich. In der Oper hat der Sicherheitsbeauftragte mehr zu sagen als der Intendant. Wie geht Oper 2020?
Mit Kompromissen und Mut zum Experiment, sagt Bernd Loebe, Intendant der Oper Frankfurt und Vorsitzender der Deutschsprachigen Opernkonferenz, der die 13 größten Opernhäuser Deutschlands, Österreichs und der Schweiz angehören.
«Ich will nicht sagen, die Lage ist desolat», sagt Loebe, «aber man ist verängstigt, dass das ein Dauerzustand werden könnte.» Die Intendanten erwarteten mehrheitlich von der Politik «mehr Risikobereitschaft» bei der Genehmigung von Kulturveranstaltungen. «Die Oper ist der sicherste Ort, an dem man sich garantiert nicht ansteckt», sagt Loebe. «Wenn alle, die im Sommer in Risikogebiete gefahren sind, oder am Mainufer gefeiert haben, in die Oper gegangen wären, hätten wir jetzt geringere Fallzahlen.»
Opera in times of Corona: «Nobody currently thinks about «Parsifal»»
Hardly any other branch of high culture is affected as severely as opera by the requirements to contain the corona pandemic. A large choir on stage, wind instruments in the orchestra pit – impossible this autumn. In opera, the security officer has more to say than the artistic director. How does Opera work in 2020?
With compromises and the courage to experiment, says Bernd Loebe, Director of the Frankfurt Opera and Chairman of the German-speaking Opera Conference, which includes the 13 largest opera houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
“I don’t want to say that the situation is desolate,” says Loebe, “but one is afraid that this could become a permanent state of affairs. The majority of the directors expected politicians to be “more willing to take risks” when approving cultural events. “The opera is the safest place where you are guaranteed not to get infected,” says Loebe. “If everyone who went to risk areas in the summer or celebrated on the banks of the Main River had gone to the opera, we would now have fewer cases”.
Décès de Christiane Eda-Pierre
Dotée d’un timbre d’une rare beauté, d’un sens incomparable de la ligne et d’une technique sans faille, Christiane Eda-Pierre fut l’une des voix les plus intéressantes du vingtième siècle. Née à Fort-de-France en 1932 d’un père journaliste et d’une mère musicienne, la soprano martiniquaise s’en est allée ce dimanche après-midi à l’âge de 88 ans. Elle aura été l’une des figures marquantes du règne de Rolf Liebermann à l’Opéra de Paris et de Gérard Mortier à La Monnaie de Bruxelles, notamment dans Les Contes d’Hoffman de Patrice Chéreau et dans La Clemenza di Tito de Karl Ernst et Ursel Herrmann. La parution de l’ouvrage (“Christiane Eda-Pierre, une vie ‘excellence”) que lui consacrait il y a quelques mois Catherine Marceline fut pour Forumopera.com l’occasion d’évoquer sa carrière.
Death of Christiane Eda-Pierre
Endowed with a timbre of rare beauty, an incomparable sense of line and flawless technique, Christiane Eda-Pierre was one of the most interesting voices of the twentieth century. Born in Fort-de-France in 1932 to a father who was a journalist and a mother who was a musician, the soprano from Martinique passed this Sunday afternoon at the age of 88. She was one of the leading figures in the reigns of Rolf Liebermann at the Paris Opera and Gérard Mortier at La Monnaie in Brussels, notably in Les Contes d’Hoffman by Patrice Chéreau and La Clemenza di Tito by Karl Ernst and Ursel Herrmann. The publication of the book (“Christiane Eda-Pierre, une vie ‘excellence’“) dedicated to her a few months ago by Catherine Marceline was an opportunity for Forumopera.com to evoke her career.