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GLYNDEBOURNE, England (Reuters) – Can you do Wagner justice with only 30 musicians in the orchestra pit due to social distancing?
It was one of the myriad questions facing the directors of Glyndebourne, an opera house set in idyllic countryside in southern England, as they planned the 2021 summer festival under lockdown from COVID-19.
“The prospect of doing Wagner with an orchestra of only 30 people really didn’t seem logical,” said Sarah Hopwood, general manager of Glyndebourne, recounting discussions about whether to continue a production of “Tristan und Isolde”.
Instead, a larger orchestra will be seated on the stage, which has more space than the pit, and the lead singers will stand in front of the choir backstage. It will be different from the original production, Hopwood said, but fantastic.
Creative workarounds and contingency planning will be critical to the survival of arts venues, music festivals, cinemas and galleries around the world as coronavirus lockdowns simplify and guidelines change in the near term.
Some events, like the Glastonbury Music Festival, found the obstacles insurmountable and were canceled for two consecutive years.
With plenty of outdoor space and a format that doesn’t rely on a huge crowd, Glyndebourne is perhaps one of the lucky ones. Yet even here the task of getting back on track is an artistic and logistical puzzle.
FOOT AND MOUTH
Founded in 1934 by passionate opera landowner John Christie and his soprano Audrey Mildmay in their mansion, the annual Glyndebourne Festival is now a world-class, uniquely English event.
Performances take place in a 1,200-seat opera house set in extensive gardens with a picturesque lake. Women wear elegant dresses and evening suits for men. During 90-minute intervals, the public deploys into the park for a picnic on the grass.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Glyndebourne to cancel the sold-out festival and refund tickets.
Ironically, the rural location, usually a logistical challenge, may have helped it survive, due to the legacy of an earlier crisis – an animal foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001 that devastated British agriculture.
With large swathes of countryside locked down to prevent the spread of disease, the festival was under threat. It eventually moved forward, but the crisis was a wake-up call, and Glyndebourne has since focused on creating a cash cushion.
This has been invaluable getting through 2020 and allows planning for 2021, which Hopwood expects to be in deficit.
“We are going to tap into the reserves to get there,” she said. “It’s about people. It’s about keeping our staff employed, providing freelance work and engaging with our audience.
SOCIALLY DISTANCED MOZART
For now, 600 tickets per performance, or 50% of the capacity, will be on sale to allow a socially distanced audience. This represents a gross potential box office reduction of 11 million pounds ($ 15 million).
Hopwood said more tickets would go on sale later if government rules allowed. The festival runs from May 20 to August 29.
The rehearsals are a particular challenge. Normally, up to five companies, or around 1,000 people, would be on site at the same time before the festival. Performers coming from abroad would stay in local accommodation.
This year, rehearsals need to be spaced out and rethought, as artists based in other countries face self-isolation and multiple COVID-19 tests.
Even the making and handling of sets and props requires careful thought.
“There will be obstacles along the way, and we’ll be ready to adapt as needed,” Hopwood said.
Besides Wagner, the 2021 repertoire includes Mozart’s ‘Cosi fan tutte’, an old favorite that can be done in a COVID-safe manner, and three new productions of operas by Janacek, Rossini and Verdi.
Social distancing will be in effect during rehearsals, but may have relaxed by the time the performances take place, so directors and performers are bracing for multiple screenplays, Hopwood said.
“We can have productions that go from a totally socially remote rehearsal room to a stage where all of a sudden people are allowed to kiss.”
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Edited by Mike Collett-White
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