London’s Royal Opera House Cancels Concert

Following increased COVID-19 cases, the opening night of Puccini’s “Tosca” was postponed by three days

“The opening performance of Tosca on Sunday 5 December (matinee) has been cancelled,” reads a statement on the Royal Opera House’s (ROH) website. “Ticket holders will be contacted. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

The cancellation was also due to technical issues by the company, which reopened in May this year. Despite the setback, the opera will go ahead with the same cast of vocalists including Bryan Hymel, Alexey Markov, Elena Stikhina, Hubert Francis, Yuriy Yurchuk, Jeremy White, and Jihoon Kim.

With two intermissions, Jonathan Kent’s production of the three-hour-long opera will be conducted by Oksana Lyniv, who will be making her ROH debut. 

In response to the evolving state of the pandemic, ROH also recently updated their COVID-safe guidelines; making face masks mandatory for all patrons attending concerts — except for children aged 12 and under.

“[In line] with government rules now in force which make the wearing of face coverings mandatory on public transport and in shops, we have made this decision with audience and staff safety as our number one priority,” ROH stated on their website.

Further COVID mitigations will continue at the opera house, such as enhanced cleaning and ventilation, regular antiviral fogging, as well as strict protocols for staff and artists.