Sofia (AFP)

The orchestra has taken the place of the parterre, the public is confined to the balconies and the intermission canceled: the Sofia Opera, a rare cultural institution in Europe to maintain its performances, has adapted to the pandemic.

From Tosca to La Traviata, the majestic room offers the inhabitants of the Bulgarian capital a rich program, far from the silence that reigns in Vienna, Paris or Milan.

"I thirst for music. So why think about the risk? It is not higher here than in stores or in the subway", assures Petya Petkova, an elegant retiree accompanied by her daughter.

Despite the rigorous temperature measurement at the entrance and the precautionary gestures, a festive atmosphere reigns: bouquets of artificial flowers separate the spectators on the purple seats left vacant.

After the spring 2020 containment, Bulgaria, which applies light restrictions despite a high death rate, reopened cultural places by limiting their capacity to 30%.

Playing in front of a handful of spectators, "it's better than doing it alone in your deserted living room", comments the director of the Opera, Plamen Kartaloff.

- "Acoustic challenge" -

After the coldness of virtual performances, soprano Stanislava Momekova is impatient to return to the stage.

"I need to put myself in the shoes of a character, to share my emotions with the public", exclaims the interpreter of Violetta.

"And the desire to play is stronger than the fear", launches the 36-year-old artist, while the death of the tenor Kamen Chanev, contaminated by the coronavirus in November, after having performed in southern Bulgaria Otello, "the role of his dreams," moved the whole country.

For the conductor, who came from Germany where "everything is canceled", if it is an "acoustic challenge" to comply with the health restrictions, he is happily taken up.

The musicians left the pit to have more space.

They are further from the stage, closer to the audience, and must therefore be careful to "play more quietly" not to mask the voice of the singers, explains Evan-Alexis Christ.

While paying a more attentive ear because of the distance separating each member of the orchestra, for safety measure.

The concept is "successful", "everyone is very disciplined", judges the American maestro who, he says, is the envy of his colleagues around the world.

- Rejuvenated public -

"It's one of the only opera houses in Europe" to tour with that of Madrid, he says.

"It shows that it is possible to make representations in these difficult times."

"I have a feeling that people are hungry for music," continues Mr. Christ, who hopes to "make a difference" to the 250 music lovers in the room, as a remedy for the "depression" that threatens society.

In the summer of 2020, the Sofia Opera offered an ingenious off-site offer, with Swan Lake on a pontoon, operas in front of a Roman fortress, in the darkness of a cave or on a stage of cinema.

Since then, the shows have not stopped, despite a powerful second wave in November and a third which threatens.

In January, concerts were adapted to babies - less loud music, cries tolerated -, while musicals were "prohibited for adults unaccompanied by children", jokes the director.

The pandemic was thus an opportunity to attract a renewed audience, like the student Martin Damyanov, who took out the suit and tie to come see La Traviata, "on the advice of his parents".

© 2021 AFP