The artist rooms of the Elbphilharmonie are on the twelfth floor, otherwise the people tend not to get in there. High above Hamburg and its port, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Caetano Veloso and Yo-Yo Ma, among others, recently freshened up for their performances. On Saturday the Mahler Chamber Orchestra plays for those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested, on Monday the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle. This offer was now on the program on Friday, when there was no concert: Vaccination in the Elbphilharmonie.
Those who liked it and didn’t have it yet were allowed to have the syringe set up there, either with Biontech or Johnson & Johnson. Then a quarter of an hour of relaxation in the middle of the Great Hall, all without registration. A small contribution to the current culture war on the Alster and Elbe for 2 G and 3 G, because the vaccination pass with Corona emblem can be particularly helpful in the future if someone likes theater or music.
2 G is supposed to get the damn pandemic under control for battered organizers
Hamburg’s vaccination center in the exhibition halls has closed after eight months and 600,000 piked people. For this, the Hanseatic city is trying the 2 G option, decided by the red-green Senate around Mayor Peter Tschentscher. The determined part of the industry can only receive those who have been vaccinated or have recovered in the pub, cinema or concert hall. Instead, as in the old days, all spaces can be filled again instead of leaving half empty for reasons of hygiene.
2 G is supposed to get the damn pandemic under control for battered organizers. Hamburg rushes ahead, although the politician and doctor Tschentscher had previously been cautious. It’s just a Hamburg model, all voluntary, but an abbreviation with G has not been debated so eagerly since the G20 riot summit.
So some try 2 G, others stay with 3 G and continue to open their doors to those who have been tested. Many vacillate. The cultural scene was somewhat taken by surprise by the offer from the town hall. There are still a few details to be clarified, which is also what Christoph Lieben-Seutter, the artistic director of the Elbphilharmonie, is concerned with. “2 G ante portas, so to speak,” he says on the phone. “A fluid topic. We are currently evaluating to what extent we would be able to handle 2Gs.” It doesn’t go that fast.
The Viennese Lieben-Seutter has been used to this subsequent global success since he took over the Elbphilharmonie, which was then still to be built. During the extensive construction period he was director without a house for years, while Corona was director without an audience for months, and they have been brooding over new rules ever since. Since June there has been live music again under the wave roof, with masks, spacing, 3 G and reduced space. On Wednesday the season opening of the NDR-Elbphilharmonie-Orchester took place with a full line-up with conductor Alan Gilbert, almost normal in a state of emergency.
The director would be for 2 G +. Vaccinated, recovered or tested – but with a PCR test
1300 of the 2100 seats in the Great Hall were occupied to celebrate the day. The cellists around Yo-Yo Ma gave “Summertime” in between, and outside even the sky over Hamburg had cleared up. Afterwards, so it reports Hamburger Abendblatt, NDR director Joachim Knuth split 2 G into “Gershwin” and “Glückswohl” – at the aprés reception, which only those who had been vaccinated or who had recovered were allowed to take part.
For Lieben-Seutter, 2 G is a little more complicated. “Complex situation,” he says. He personally would be for 2 G +. Vaccinated, recovered or tested – but with a PCR test, much more reliable than the rapid tests. Then, for example, those who cannot be vaccinated could also come.
Many tickets have already been sold, so the conditions can hardly be changed afterwards. Hamburg’s newer landmark also sees itself as an open house. In addition to the mostly vaccinated own workforce, there are plenty of other suppliers, organizers, orchestras, choirs and so on.
Numerous cultural workers have long been vaccinated in the quay studios of the Elbphilharmonie. But whoever is immunized is none of the employers’ business. “Don’t worry,” the Thalia-Theater writes on its homepage, with you stay 3 G. “All you need is valid proof and a mouth and nose protection, even during the performances.” You still sit in the “chessboard, with one free space apart”.
The colleague from the 3-G-Ohnsorg Theater, on the other hand, does not like the fact that the state is shifting responsibility
From October, couples will be allowed to move together on the Thalia chessboard, everything else will be seen like isolated 2 G-dates. The artistic director Joachim Lux regards the theater “as part of an extended basic service”, 2 G is suboptimal there. The colleague from the 3-G-Ohnsorg Theater, on the other hand, does not like the fact that the state is shifting responsibility.
One hears the complaint about hidden compulsory vaccination more often, but 2G can be attractive. The scene is in a dilemma. The Deutsches Schauspielhaus plans to offer plays by Elfriede Jelinek (“Noise. Blindes See. Blind See!”) And Ian McEwan (“Child Welfare”) 2G from mid-October. The general manager and director Karin Beier is happy to be able to play in front of a full auditorium again, but she continues to promise 3-G events. “Everyone should be able to enjoy a theater experience.”
In the long term, it makes no sense to use half-empty halls
The Schmidt-Theater am Kiez just celebrated their 30th birthday, with Mary Roos and Udo Lindenberg, moving to 2 G on October 5th. The operators around Corny Littmann think it is “right that vaccinated and convalescent people get their full rights back”. One could “operate cultural establishments like ours more economically for the first time after a tough year and a half of the pandemic”; 95 percent of the guests have been vaccinated or recovered anyway. The St. Pauli Theater next door will follow at the end of the year. The cinemas? “Currently G3 still applies to us,” writes the Abaton on its website, nicely reversing the cipher. “If that changes, you can find out here.” The State Opera? For the time being 3 G. Reeperbahn Festival? Waived (“unfortunately, unfortunately”) on 2 G.
“Everything flows,” says Christoph Lieben-Seutter, the owner of the Elbphilharmonie. Who knows what’s coming up in terms of incidences and hospitalization. For him, a ride in the full underground is more risky than listening to good music from a distance and with ventilation. In the long term, it makes no sense to use half-empty halls. In any case, the stage in the Great Hall was the best waiting room in town on Friday.