No one performing onstage in Spain’s Teatro Real opera house is masked, and that alone looks odd these days amid a pandemic.
And that's even before the second act scene in Antonín Dvořák’s “Rusalka” — about a water nymph who falls in love with a mortal — in which cast members kiss and grope in a feigned, non-socially distanced orgy.
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No one performing onstage in Spain’s Teatro Real opera house is masked, and that alone looks odd these days amid a pandemic.
Located in one of the cities hit hardest by the virus, the Teatro Real is making a herculean effort for the show to go on, investing in safety measures that have allowed it to stage performances — albeit with smaller audiences — since July.
With a yearly budget of 60 million euros ($71 million), Spain’s prime cultural center acknowledges it has the capacity and ability to carry on.
It was closed during Spain’s three months of national confinement between March and May, but preparations for reopening went on. It rolled out an array of measures that allowed it to stage a work with an audience, Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata,” in July. Since then, it has put on two other operas, ballets and flamenco shows, and plans a full season for 2021.
“I feel like I’m in a miracle, “says Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, the star of “Rusalka,” which is a co-production with companies in Dresden, Bologna, Barcelona and Valencia. Those sites will not be able to stage the opera for some time.
She and “Rusalka” director Christof Loy believe Madrid is leading the way.
Key to staying open during the pandemic was Teatro Real’s decision to set up a medical committee with specialists from five Madrid hospitals giving advice, he said.
The average of 1,000-plus audience members — about 65% of normal capacity — are divided into 19 sectors with separate refreshment areas and toilets and a small army of ushers ensuring there is no roaming about.
The opera house was in full compliance with regulations at the time, but since then, a one-seat separation between every two is the norm.
Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian warms up backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. The cast, chorus and orchestra members are tested every three days. Offstage, masks are compulsory. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Andres Maspero directs the chorus backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, right, and American tenor Eric Cutler, left, during a performance of "Rusalka" opera at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Opera aficionados in masks and maintaining social distance, attend a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Stage manager Nieves Garcia works backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, on Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Dressmaker Sacramento Sanchez works at Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Cast members stretch during a break of a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Maintenance workers dressed in protective gear work on disinfecting the ventilation system in the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Cast members wear face masks backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
A health professional conducts a coronavirus test on an employee at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
A disinfection system is used at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
While many of the world's major venues are shut down, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan, watching a performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid can almost make you forget about the coronavirus.
A ribbon saying “not available” covers seats on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, to help the audience maintain social distancing. The opera house is again open, although to smaller audiences, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Located in one of the cities hit hardest by the virus, the Teatro Real is making a herculean effort for the show to go on, investing in safety measures that have allowed it to stage performances — albeit with smaller audiences — since July.
In March and April, soaring infections had Madrid’s hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients. That eased in the summer, but another wave saw cases surge in the city and surrounding region. Authorities now seem to have gained the upper hand, with hospital occupancy rates falling steadily. Overall, Spain's Health Ministry has recorded more than 1.54 million cases and has attributed almost 42,300 deaths to the virus.
"The theater and culture must bet on staying open at all times,” Teatro Real managing director Ignacio García-Belenguer told The Associated Press. “It’s not about going against the flow or trying to be exceptional. ... It’s what we believe we have to do.”
A musician in a face mask plays the violin at a rehearsal at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
With a yearly budget of 60 million euros ($71 million), Spain’s prime cultural center acknowledges it has the capacity and ability to carry on.
García-Belenguer says its financing from public subsidies, sponsors and ticketing puts Teatro Real in a unique spot to break even, unlike other opera houses that are normally mostly public or private. Extra state funding because of the pandemic will help too, he adds.
But it also has the good fortune of being in a region that has decided to take a different tack with the virus and apply fewer and more-localized restrictions, allowing bars, restaurants and cultural venues to stay open with reduced attendance.
Cast members wear face masks during a rehearsal of "Don Giovanni" at the Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
It was closed during Spain’s three months of national confinement between March and May, but preparations for reopening went on. It rolled out an array of measures that allowed it to stage a work with an audience, Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata,” in July. Since then, it has put on two other operas, ballets and flamenco shows, and plans a full season for 2021.
Everyone entering the theater has their temperature taken automatically by machines. Hand sanitizers abound and surgical masks are supplied to all. There are ultra-violet lamps to disinfect the main theater, dressing rooms and clothing, and the air conditioning has been adapted to ensure a healthier air flow and temperature.
García-Belenguer says they will spend 1 million euros ($1.2 million) on safety measures by year's end.
A cast member of the opera “Rusalka” gets a temperature check as part of the COVID-19 protocol measures prior to a performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
“I feel like I’m in a miracle, “says Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, the star of “Rusalka,” which is a co-production with companies in Dresden, Bologna, Barcelona and Valencia. Those sites will not be able to stage the opera for some time.
“We are always tested, (and) with masks, it’s really strict in the theater,” says Grigorian, who had her October 2021 debut in the Met canceled while shows in Berlin and elsewhere are uncertain.
“I have no idea where I am going after Madrid,” she says. “If everything will be locked down then I’ll stay in Madrid.”
A nurse holds a tablet that shows the temperature of spectators at the entrance of Teatro Real before a performance of "Rusalka" in Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
She and “Rusalka” director Christof Loy believe Madrid is leading the way.
“I think the governments are wrong in closing theaters,” Loy said. “People need music, they need arts.”
García-Belenguer compares the situation to now universally accepted security measures adopted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The “new normality,’’ he says, demands “a deployment to minimize the health risk when someone comes to the theater, or boards a plane.”
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, left, talks with stage manager Hugo Fernandez in a dressing room prior to a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Key to staying open during the pandemic was Teatro Real’s decision to set up a medical committee with specialists from five Madrid hospitals giving advice, he said.
Offstage, masks are compulsory for all. The cast, chorus and orchestra are tested every three days, with others monitored regularly. Stagehands and other workers must fill out health questionnaires every day.
There have been isolated positive tests, but in each one, the theater says it reacted promptly and often tested up to 50 people who came in contact with the infected person.
An opera aficionado, wearing a face mask, walks into the Teatro Real to attend to a performance of "Rusalka" in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
The average of 1,000-plus audience members — about 65% of normal capacity — are divided into 19 sectors with separate refreshment areas and toilets and a small army of ushers ensuring there is no roaming about.
“It is a complex system to try to reduce to the maximum the impact,” García-Belenguer said.
He knows any outbreak could prove embarrassing. Memories are still fresh of the furor at a performance of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” in September, when a show was interrupted and eventually canceled after spectators in cheaper seats protested loudly that they were crammed together, while those in expensive ones appeared to have plenty of space.
British conductor Ivor Bolton, right, waits backstage at the Teatro Real prior to a performance of "Rusalka" in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
The opera house was in full compliance with regulations at the time, but since then, a one-seat separation between every two is the norm.
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Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue contributed.
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The orchestra warms up prior to a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
A makeup artist disinfects a chair used by a cast member before a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian warms up backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. The cast, chorus and orchestra members are tested every three days. Offstage, masks are compulsory. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Andres Maspero directs the chorus backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, right, and American tenor Eric Cutler, left, during a performance of "Rusalka" opera at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Opera aficionados in masks and maintaining social distance, attend a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Stage manager Nieves Garcia works backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, on Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Dressmaker Sacramento Sanchez works at Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Cast members stretch during a break of a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Maintenance workers dressed in protective gear work on disinfecting the ventilation system in the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Cast members wear face masks backstage during a performance of "Rusalka" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
A health professional conducts a coronavirus test on an employee at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
A disinfection system is used at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. The theater is one of the few major opera houses that have reopened during the coronavirus pandemic, although to smaller audiences. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)