Montreal and Basle reopen to audiences, London and New York not

Montreal and Basle reopen to audiences, London and New York not

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norman lebrecht

August 20, 2020

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will start its season on September 11, with ‘up to 250 live spectators per concert’.

The conductors are Bernard Labadie from Quebec and Susanna Mälkki from Finland. The OSM awaits a decision on its next music director.

In Switzerland, the Basle Stadtcasino will reopen on August 26 with the Basle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ivor Bolton. The casino is allowed to admit 1000 people, including orchestra, but wearing masks is mandatory throughout the performance.

In London, the Barbican has just rolled out more online offerings. Nothing live.

 

Comments

  • MacroV says:

    You might want to fix your headline – someone confused Montreal and Montreux.

    Even though she has only conducted there twice, there seems to be a bit of interest in Malkki taking over the OSM. On paper it seems like an interesting match, though I have no idea of their rapport.

  • John Rook says:

    Better to have ‘live’ spectators than dead ones, I suppose.

  • Le Křenek du jour says:

    Regarding Basel: the Stadtcasino season will actually reopen on August 22. Between then and August 26, which is the date given in the article, five concerts will have taken place.
    https://www.stadtcasino-basel.ch/de/programm/veranstaltungen/

    The 1000 persons ceiling is nothing particular: all public events in Switzerland are currently subject to that cap.

    Mask wearing is to become mandatory in all public business venues in Basel this coming Monday, so this sensible precaution just precedes schedule by a few days. With infections back to early April levels, and rising fast, this measure is the minimum that the authorities are entitled to require.

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