Barcelona’s Liceu Grand Theatre held an unconventional concert Monday for the first day of its reopening as musicians from the UceLi Quartet played ‘Crisantemi’ (or The Chrysanthemums) by Puccini for an audience, not of people, but 2,292 plants.
The hall, which has been closed since March, was filled with palms, ficus trees, and Swiss cheese plants as a symbolic gesture of the months of the pandemic when nature reclaimed space from people, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
The greenery created a stark visual contrast between the theatre’s red seating and gold wall decor during the six-minute performance.
Conceptual artist Eugenio Ampudia formed the idea during the lockdown as the sounds and presence of nature became more apparent. He created the concert in hopes people would consider their relationship with nature more deeply.
But Ampudia’s concert metaphor isn’t the only way people started getting creative with musical performances during the pandemic. Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra performed Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from the comfort of their homes and posted the compilation of performances in a video online.
As for the plants’ concert, the theatre streamed the performance on its website and the plants were to be donated to healthcare professionals who worked battling the virus on the frontlines.
