“There are over 200 classical music festivals in Germany. Many of them have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. But new ideas are also popping up to honor Bach and Beethoven,” writes Gaby Reucher in Tuesday’s (4/21) Deutsche Welle (Bonn, Germany). “The Leipzig Bach Festival [in June] had to be canceled due to the coronavirus crisis…. The trio Podium Esslingen performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’ in Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church at Easter. The concert … could be watched worldwide via live stream [and] has been viewed over 500,000 times via various digital distribution channels…. All major events are prohibited until August 31. [Already] canceled … was the spring edition of the Beethovenfest, where star conductor Teodor Currentzis was supposed to conduct Beethoven’s symphonies…. Other festivals are affected, such as the Mozart Festival in Würzburg and the famous Bayreuth Festival…. Other festivals are still hoping for the possibility to perform at least smaller concerts…. Nike Wagner, the director of the Beethovenfest, which is still scheduled for September, … says, ‘We just have to hope that cultural life will have returned to normal by then.’ ”
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