Page 11 - IAV Digital Magazine #501

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Barcelona Opera Reopens With An Audience Of Plants
By Rachel Treisman
When Barcelona's Liceu opera opened on Monday for its first concert since mid-March, it did so to a full house — of plants.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu filled its 2,292 seats with plants for a per- formance by the UceLi Quartet, which it called a prelude to its 2020-2021 sea- son. The string quartet serenad- ed its leafy audi- ence with Giacomo Puccini's "Crisantemi" in a performance that was also made available to human listeners via livestream.
"After a strange, painful period,
the creator, the Liceu's artistic director and the curator Blanca de la Torre offer us a different perspec- tive for our return to activity, a per- spective that brings us closer
to something as essential as our relationship with nature," accord- ing to a
release on the Liceu's website.
The plants came from local nurs-
eries and will be donated along with a certificate from the artist to 2,292 health care professionals, specifically at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona.
Organizers wrote that they wanted to recognize the work of health care providers, who have served "on the toughest front in a battle unprecedented for our genera-
tions."
Spain ended its national state of emergency on Sunday, lifting a lockdown that had been in place for three months. According to the country's phased- in reopening plan, establish- ments such as theaters and cin- emas can oper- ate with capacity restrictions. The venue's state- ment addressed this gradual return to a new normal.
"[The Liceu] wel- comes and leads a highly symbolic act that defends the value of art, music and nature as a letter of introduction to our return to activity," it read.
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