2022 or Omicron vs Culture

The cultural life is walking on eggshells.
Some concert organisers are cancelling or postponing again. Some theatres have returned to solely playing productions directed with social distancing. Others, like Staatstheater Darmstadt, have put thorough test procedures on the daily schedule and in their hygiene concepts.
What continuously make these times so confusing in Germany, is the fact that every state have different rules. How many people are allowed to come in to the theatre? What kind of mask am I expected to wear when going by bus or doing my food shopping? To some aspect it’s clever though, since in that way it is possible to react to the local circumstances. It’s just a bit stressful when travelling. However, it is extremely easy to get access to tests, which truly helps when managing everyday life.

Januar has been a busy month, starting with lessons in Berlin and the jump in in Solothurn, Switzerland. Hence many hours on trains. I was holding my breath and crossing my fingers and managed to stay healthy for the luxurious four concerts in Bremerhaven with selected songs by Alma Mahler-Werfel.
The concert, Trois femmes de légende, was recorded by the German sender Deutschlandfunk Kultur and can be listened to on their homepage. It was a true pleasure to get the possibility to delve into these songs in the orchestra arrangement by Jorma Panula.

Omicron is everywhere now, even in our carefully monitored production of Don Quichotte. I do my best being careful and hope to stay healthy and positively negative all through the last weeks of rehearsals. Up to the premiere, which I’m truly looking forward to! February 13th – Save the date!

I guess this pandemic is rapidly getting worse before it gets better. I truly hope that spring will bring us normality again. Meanwhile I work on Alma! – the recital I’m preparing together with Jan Croonenbroeck . We will premiere the programme March 12th in Darmstadt, as a part of the concert series “Unerhört!“