On the
20th of May, I blogged “Austria,
the country that gave us Ischgl, source of corona contamination this
winter, is now preparing a similar hotspot for the summer.“
And now,
I have succumbed to the temptation and am also here. A couple of days ago, I
went to the premiere of Cosi fan Tutte, conducted by Joanna Mallwitz and
directed by Christof Loy. The splendid clean and clear lined sets made by my
friend Johannes Leiacker were a special bonus. It was wonderful: wonderful to
go to the opera again, after all the Corona shutdowns of cultural life, and a
truly wonderful production. Splendid young singers, who not only sang
beautifully but also acted convincingly. An all-round elating evening.
The Festival’s PR machinery has been trying to virally spread the news of how disciplined their hygiene and prevention of infection measures are. No intervals to lower mingling risks, certain “social distancing”, as one was sat in a chessboard pattern and only half of the seats were filled. But the fact is that you get 1000 people spreading those dreaded aerosols in the closed space of the opera house. More than that, once the performance started, people were permitted to take off their masks. I didn’t. Very many did. In fact, I wore an FFP2 mask, that supposedly also protects the wearer throughout the evening.
One of my
friends sent me a link to an interview with the Festival’s president with a
comment “charming lies”. Well, charm is a matter of personal taste. I do not
trust messages, statements, interviews with salespeople and the Festival’s president
is trying to sell her product. Tickets, in fact, are still to be had. This is
unprecedented, like so much else in these Corona times. This saleswoman has an
uphill struggle.
Was it
wise to go? No. Is it responsible to stage events? No. The least they should
have done would have been to make wearing of masks during the whole evening
compulsory. Austria succumbed to the powerful Salzburg lobby – it should not
have. I can but hope, both egoistically and generally that we will not pay with
our health for this experience.
arte have recorded the performance of Cosi, which can be watched here. It will be available until 30 of October 2020. Definitely worthwhile.
You certainly have guts to go to Salzburg at this time, especially as you are a member of the risk class.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the press reports that I read, there was no kind of social distancing whatsoever during the first night of "Elektra". The safety concept was skipped, both by the press itself and by people who squeezed in with tickets of uncertain origin and sold immediately before the performance by (presumably) black marketeers.
By all accounts it turned out to be a rather splendid performance nonetheless.
The whole festival is like a laboratory experiment. We await its results - and I don`t mean the artistic ones - with trepidation.
Good luck!
Deine Begeisterung über die Salzburger Cosi fan Tutte teile ich, Deine Gewissensbisse bleiben mir wegen des nur virtuellen Genusses - ohne Gesichtsmaske - glücklicherweise erspart wie auch die sintflutartigen Regengüsse auf der Autobahn München - Salzburg. Habe herzlichen Dank für den Link zum arte livestream, der mich über das karge Berliner Kulturprogramm hinwegtröstet.
ReplyDeleteBleibe gesund, wachsam und kritischer Berichterstatter der Festspiele!
You should be a bit more careful! Now you have me worrying. And you know better!
ReplyDeleteI finally found great post here.I will get back here. I just added your blog to my bookmark sites. thanks.Quality posts is the crucial to invite the visitors to visit the web page, that's what this web page is providing. coronatest kopen zelftest
ReplyDeleteThe worst part of it was that the software only worked intermittently and the data was not accurate. You obviously canot confront anyone about what you have discovered if the information is not right. goedgekeurde corona thuis test
ReplyDeleteI finally found great post here.I will get back here. I just added your blog to my bookmark sites. thanks.Quality posts is the crucial to invite the visitors to visit the web page, that's what this web page is providing. coronatest kopen zelftest
ReplyDeleteThe worst part of it was that the software only worked intermittently and the data was not accurate. You obviously canot confront anyone about what you have discovered if the information is not right. goedgekeurde corona thuis test
ReplyDeleteThis particular is usually apparently essential and moreover outstanding truth along with for sure fair-minded and moreover admittedly useful My business is looking to find in advance designed for this specific useful stuffs… coronatest voor thuis
ReplyDeleteGreat article Lot's of information to Read...Great Man Keep Posting and update to People..Thanks coronatest voor thuis
ReplyDeleteI think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. coronatest voor thuis
ReplyDeleteI was reading some of your content on this website and I conceive this internet site is really informative ! Keep on putting up. coronatest voor thuis
ReplyDelete