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Standing apart due to social distancing
measures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 25 singers
are gathered on the rooftop of the Royal Opera House in London's
Covent Garden.
Their performance, which also includes the final chorus from
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Magic Flute", will be streamed on
the Royal Opera House's Facebook page on Good Friday as the
venue prepares to welcome back audiences in May.
"It's about greeting Easter time and greeting the world after
lockdown," American conductor William Spaulding, who is the
chorus director of the Royal Opera House, told Reuters.
"We all need a bit of hope right now ... it's been such a rough
year and in particular for opera," added director of opera
Oliver Mears.
Like other cultural venues across Britain, the Royal Opera
House, also home to the Royal Ballet, shut its doors in March
2020, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Britons to stay
home to stop the spread of the virus.
Now, as the country slowly emerges from lockdown, the venue last
week announced early plans for its 2021/22 Season, its first
full season since 2019.
It will first welcome back audiences from May 17, with
performances including a new Royal Opera production of Mozart's
"La Clemenza di Tito".
While some members of the chorus, which was originally founded
in 1946, performed in a Christmas concert in December, most have
not sung together for a while.
Soprano Elizabeth Weisberg, who like fellow chorus members was
furloughed during lockdown, said she felt she had lost a "big
family feeling" by being away from her colleagues.
"I'm looking forward to the day when we can hug each other
again," she told Reuters.
"We really do look after each other and (I'm) just looking
forward to seeing ... the standing ovations when the audiences
are back. I know they need it just as much as we do, and it's
just going to mean so much more to everybody once we are back
and able to make music."
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Additional reporting and writing by
Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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