The Paris Opera Continues to Perform With Masks and Testing in Place

Paris Opera is continuing to perform while wearing masks. The Economic Times explored just how they do it.

"It really disturbs the delivery," said Sylvie Delaunay, who has been with the chorus for more than 20 years. "When one sings opera, there are deep inhalations and deep exhalations, so if breathing is restricted, we get tired very easily."

The company's new staging of "Faust" by 19th-century French composer Charles Gounod is to be screened on television and online from Friday. The chorus has learned what works and what doesn't. The high-filtration FFP2 masks proved difficult, said Delaunay.

Instead, the chorus has opted for stiff surgical masks, in black for the actual performance.

Soloists have been permitted to perform without a mask, and they receive daily Covid-19 tests, and while the chorus was bunched together for the final show, they had to socially distance throughout rehearsals.

"We're less able to hear each other. We hear our neighbours... but the sound of the group is more distant. It's not at all the same," said Delaunay.

"The job of a chorus singer is all about exaggerating the pronunciation of words," said chorus master Jose Luis Basso. "But still the results aren't too bad."

Read more on The Economic Times.

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