display

It was exactly a year ago that the last normal opera performance took place in Berlin on March 10, 2020 with “Carmen”.

In front of so many spectators who had just bought a ticket (and maybe a few more who came running at the last second before the gate closed).

With a full orchestra, the complete stage cast including the choir, without masks, spacing, disinfection boxes, guide straps and all the corona horror utensils that have become familiar to us since then.

Then, after a cultural summer of coincidences like the courageous festivals, there was the ostentatious general opening in autumn - with restrictions in the auditorium and in most of the houses only small performances.

Since November 2nd, the second lockdown, which does not allow anything in front of an audience, has now prevailed.

display

Now - for once - Berlin culture, where Senator Klaus Lederer has always been particularly sensible but also timid, is pushing ahead with a temporary pilot test: the Berliner Ensemble will start on March 19, and the Berliner Philharmoniker are due to give their first concert on March 20 under Kirill Petrenko in front of a half-filled hall.

Barenboim is also there

A chamber concert will also be played once in the concert hall.

The Berlin Club Commission and the Holzmarkt are organizing a gig in the Säälchen, the Volksbühne is showing a world premiere by Fritz Kater on April 1st in the directing staff union of Armin Petras.

On April 2nd, Daniel Barenboim will conduct the third “Le nozze di Figaro” premiere of his tenure at the State Opera.

The Deutsche Oper will also give a performance on April 4th.

VisitBerlin will also be there with a conference for companies in the MICE sector on March 25th in the “Estrel Hotel”.

display

All visitors must purchase a personalized ticket in advance sales from March 15 and, with a link and self-booking, go through a free quick test in one of the participating test centers on the day of the event.

When they enter, they show their current negative test result, their personalized ticket and their ID card.

A smartphone is necessary because QR codes are also used.

During the event, it is mandatory to wear a medical face mask or an FFP2 mask and to comply with the applicable hygiene rules.

And of course everyone has been tested on and behind the stage.

Is that really supposed to be the new cultural reality?

We go shopping without a test and sometimes to work, we also sit twice on buses and subways to go to the test center and then to the opera.

And of course we could theoretically get infected again between the quick test and the performance.

Berlin's rapid test centers are fully booked

display

In return, any spontaneity has finally gone, you have to plan the cultural enjoyment rigidly and quickly - and you have to have the time for day tests.

Are there really capacities for this?

Allegedly everything in the new official rapid test centers in Berlin is already booked up until Easter.

Question after question.

After this little reminder of what there was once, everything is tight again, of course.

In Berlin at least.

It will be evaluated and a new decision will be made.

Has so much really changed in the Corona situation since the contagious cultural autumn, which was followed by a winter of severe, because completely thwarted, displeasure?

And how does it look across Germany?

The museums are slowly starting up again in some federal states.

At the Dessau Theater in Saxony-Anhalt they want to test in-house, in Saxony all stages will remain closed until the end of April.

Berlin institutions like the Komische Oper or the State Ballet don't even want to play beforehand.

At the same time, seven major pop festivals, from Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring to Rock im Park in Nuremberg, have all canceled everything for the summer, and some classical music festivals have canceled their sails again or reduced their offerings.

In Austria, compulsory test equipment was also discussed before the cultural enjoyment as well as the restaurant visit and has not yet been specified.

There was even talk of rapid tests in the State Opera foyer.

But who should certify these tests to go?

Box closers?

Nothing concrete has followed since then, and there is still no opening date in sight in the Alpine republic.

Oh, and by the way, in Madrid, where people have simply continued to play for months at half capacity and temperature measurement, was just at the Teatro Real “Norma” premiere.

This is how it works there when the city's right-wing government opposes the left-wing leadership of the country.

Contagions in the audience?

Not known.

But quite a few opera addicts flew through half of Europe for it.