Articles & Interviews

Seen and Heard International hopes for the happiest of outcomes for all those who are ill due to the current coronavirus pandemic. We share the optimism of those experts who hope that all those in otherwise good health will be able to resist its worst effects.

With the worldwide restrictions on travel and gatherings of significant numbers the world of classical music and many other entertainment events are currently subjected to a wave of changes, postponements, or cancellations, and it is unlikely normal recreational life will be resumed in the foreseeable future.

Seen and Heard International will continue to post reviews of concerts, operas, dance, theatre, and broadcasts for a long as we can, but bear with us if our content is not refreshed as often as readers have become used to over recent years.

We are not a listings site so if you are checking for news of whether performances have been postponed, cancelled, or might be restarting, please go direct to the websites of the venues concerned.

NEWS

Attempts are being made to provide online live music and other performances – live or recorded – during this ongoing situation. Below are a few of the announcements and please also look elsewhere on Seen and Heard for more news. None of this is intended to be comprehensive or regularly updated but might be added to in coming days:

English National Opera – On 17 July tickets for the English National Opera’s Drive and Live – the world’s first live drive-in opera – will go on sale. This new, modern 90 minute version of the much-loved La bohème is performed live at London’s Alexandra Palace with members of the award-winning ENO Orchestra and Chorus. For all details as they becoming available and about how to book tickets CLICK HERE.

Nevill Holt Opera – have announced six outdoor concerts are taking place in the beautiful gardens of the Nevill Holt estate this summer. Two concerts will take place on each of 29 August, 5 and 12 September. Nurturing up-and-coming talent is an essential part of NHO’s mission, and each concert will feature at least five NHO Young Artists. An English Country Garden will feature English Folksongs by Elgar and others, Summer Shakespeare will feature John Rutter’s Birthday Madrigals and Choral Music from the Renaissance will round out the concert series with Monteverdi, Gabrielli and Palestrina. During each visit, which will last for 2.5 hours, audiences can enjoy the outdoor performance and local food and explore the gardens. Each event will be held with strict social distancing and hygiene measures in place. Tickets are £35, with some held for each concert for those who may not be able to afford it. NHO’s 2020 festival with La traviata and Don Giovanni was cancelled in March due to Covid-19 and postponed to 2021. For more information CLICK HERE.

Opera Leipzig – The Oper Leipzig schedule of events for the 2020/21 season will once again allow for performances on the main stage, as part of an ambitious hygiene plan. The Oper Leipzig’s Oper Leipzig’s modified program for the months of September and October 2020 begins with a season-opening concert is entitled ‘Vorhang auf!’ and will take place on September 12, 2020. Intendant and general music director Ulf Schirmer will musically direct the program, which will include works by Mozart, Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber, Bizet, and Humperdinck. The very next day on September 13, soprano Gabriele Scherer will take the stage with her husband, superstar baritone Michael Volle, as together they perform selections from the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss an 60 Musicians of the Gewandhaus orchestra on stage. In line with health regulations, the Oper Leipzig’s theater will offer 238 seats, and the Musikalische Komödie’s current venue allows 48 seats. Both venues will offer one-hour performances without an intermission and will observe distancing regulations in the front and back of the house, and on stage. Ulf Schirmer thanks all involved in this complex process of coordination: ‘I am very grateful to the artists, and to our planning and technical teams, both on stage and behind the scenes, for their engagement, their patience, and their creativity. Thanks to them, we are able to make resolute and imaginative decisions regarding this autumn’s new schedule of events.’ Audiences can look forward to one premiere by each of the Oper Leipzig’s three divisions: the Oper Leipzig, the Leipzig Ballet, and the Musikalische Komödie. For more information CLICK HERE.