I was supposed to review yesterday's performance of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. I was supposed to see Ramón Vargas in his return to Teatro Real after many years, and for many people under 35, an unique opportunity. However, all those expectations vanished, just to witness the biggest scandal in the modern history of Teatro Real, a consequence of the awful pandemics we are suffering.
Shortly before the performance could have started, a female voice adressed the audience through the loudspeakers, welcoming them and remembering the safety protocol. And at the mention of safety measures, the people in the mezzanine, the cheapest zones, called Paraíso (an equivalent of the Met's Family Circus) , started to yell and boo strongly. The reason was that in their zone most of spectators were seated together, like before Covid, with no social distancing, unlike the lower zones and the parterre, with huge spaces between seats and the safety distance completely guaranteed. Even the signals of "seat unavailable" were seen in the parterre, unlike the upper zone.
Suddenly, lights were shut down, and the maestro Nicola Luisotti came to the orchestra pit to conduct the opera. But then, the protest went wilder: the people not only shouted, but also started to clap the floor with their feet and shaking the lights of their mobile phones. The overture couldn't be heard and before the opening chorus, the violins hit their instruments with their archs and the curtain fell.
Lights were turned on and despite most of the upper zone was empty enough to relocate the remaining people, the audience's outburst of rage was unstoppable. The loudspeaker female voice offered again the refund to the disagreeing people and invited them to leave the hall. The police arrived and entered the hall, but only to talk with some accomodators and leave again, finding the social distancing was fulfilled. At this point, among the audience started some voices of disagree, stating that since the refund was offered, the performance should begin, also as a sign of respect towards the artists. But the protesters refused, and even some of them wanted to be relocated on the parterre and its closest empty balconies. Later it was said this was being done, but since my seat I couldn't see it.
For a second time, lights went down and Luisotti appeared again, now looking at the audience to talk, and despite the pleas to let him talk, the protesters didn't let him, so he started again to conduct. Despite many people have left the hall, there remained enough people to keep on protesting, and they clapped and shouted again. Someone said: "Respect the artists" and a woman said "Respect the people upstairs!" and another man yelled the woman "You're gonna get it (coronavirus) by shouting so much!" The music could be heard better but still with a big noise. And then, Ramón Vargas entered and the protests went louder, so he couldn't sing. Nevertheless, he could go ahead and sang "La rivedrò nell' estasi"in those circumstances. After his aria, he stopped singing and he looked at the orchestra pit in a gesture of asking what could they do. At this point, Luisotti abandoned the orchestra pit and the curtain fell definitively.
Then, people from the parterre confronted the audience from the upper zones, and interchanged shoutings and insults. For the last time, the woman on the loudspeaker intervened to state that only the 51% of the seats were sold, as established by the law, and since performance cannot be held, it had to be cancelled. The people left then the building with a mixture of sadness and outrage. As we were leaving, we could see the accomodators affected and still very nervous for what they had gone through.
Why this did happen? In a release, Teatro Real has said that safety measures have been strictly followed and the protest came from a reduced group. Yesterday, the differences were visible between up and down: the first ones sitting very close and the second ones sitting more separately. At the beginning of the season, Teatro Real started to sell the 65% of the seats for each performance. However, they found themselves with an obstacle: the alarming increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Spain and particulary in Madrid, again the pandemic focus in the country. And with this handicap they first closed the purchase for most dates and the opening Youth gala (finally hosted on September 16th), to be re-opened some days prior the performances began.
At the beginning, everyone upstairs, supported the protest because we couldn't believe our eyes. However the legitimate protest at such organization fail, turned into an unbereable revenge when the reduced remaining group insisted on boycotting the performance and didn't let the artists, technical and other staff to do their job. They were the real damaged. And many of us wanting to see a magnificent performance with Ramón Vargas of this Verdi classic have been deprived of this. The final sensation is of sadness, because it is not easy to repeat at the opera, due to the high prices, final circumstances and now a terrible new reason.
From today, 37 areas both in Madrid City and Region have entered into a regime of restricted movility due to the incrasing cases of Coronavirus, so around 800,000 people will could be able to leave their neighbourhoods just to the essential, and possibly opera is not included among that "essential".
I really hope that situations like this won't be repeated again, for the sake of audience and above all the Teatro Real staff and artists, who doesn't deserve such a thing. Teatro Real in its release has promised to work to prevent future incidents and to communicate better with audience. We hope so, and the remaining performances could run with spectators properly distanced and without any problem. Even when for many people living in the newly lockdown areas, despite their money will be refund, that opportunity has been gone for a while.
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