COVID-19 has claimed yet another victim — The Dallas Opera’s 2021 spring season. There had been such hopes when the season was announced last summer that the pandemic would have eased, allowing the season to kick off in March. But with “extreme ongoing COVID concerns,” The Dallas Opera’s Kern Wildenthal General Director/CEO Ian Derrer made the very tough call to cancel the subscription season performances “with full-scale operas in the Winspear Opera House resuming in February and March of 2022 in a brand-new 2021/2022 Season.”
The cancellation means that the world-premiere of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by British composer Joby Talbot, librettist Gene Scheer and director Leonard Foglia will take place during the 2022/2023 season.
According to Ian, “The ongoing spread of COVID, the level of hospitalizations in our area, and the rate of vaccine rollout is such that we believe we cannot proceed with the modified season we had planned. On the advice of medical experts, and with the full safety of our artists, patrons, and staff of paramount importance, we are moving all our subscribers to the new 2021/2022 Season in the Winspear that will begin February of 2022 with four, full-scale grand opera productions.”
Those productions include “Madame Butterfly” in February 2022, “The Barber of Seville” in March 2022, “The Pearl Fishers” in April 2022 and a TDO premiere of Jonathan Dove’s “Flight” that “takes place in an airport terminal” in March 2022.
However, TDO is not going silent in the time being. For instance, “Viva Diva” with Joyce DiDonato is still on for the evening of Monday, May 10, at the Winspear, with the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, The Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert, the TDO Family Season performances of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Doctor Miracle” and the Student Matinees being “delayed until later in the year, with dates yet to be announced.”
Ian and his team are also planning the 2021 recitals that “will take place in the Winspear Opera House with socially distanced seating in late spring of this year, with special outdoor concerts also being planned.”
BTW, Ian has assured 2020/2021 subscribers that, “Your subscription seats are already reserved for the newly announced 2021/2022 Season — with your original same seats in the Winspear. We will notify you by email about your ticketing options.”
* Photo courtesy of The Dallas Opera