Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house reopened on Monday with its first concert since the coronavirus lockdown – performed to an unusually placid audience.
Without human spectators in the historic concert space, the UceLi Quartet played Giacomo Puccini's I Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums) for 2,292 plants, one for each seat in the theatre.
The spectacle transformed the space into a lush garden for one night only, as hundreds of human listeners tuned in to stream the performance at home.
The event was conceived by Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia, who said he had been inspired by nature during the pandemic.
“I heard many more birds singing. And the plants in my garden and outside growing faster,” he said before the performance.
“And, without a doubt, I thought that maybe I could now relate in a much intimate way with people and nature.”
The eight-minute concert ended with the sound of leaves and branches blowing in the wind, which resonated throughout the opera house in place of human applause.
The theatre says it will give the plants to local health workers as a thank-you for their ongoing efforts throughout the pandemic.
Spain’s national state of emergency was lifted on Sunday after three months of restrictions on movement and assembly in the country.
At the time of writing, Spain has recorded more than 247,000 coronavirus infections, with 150,000 recoveries. There have been 28,324 Covid-19 deaths.
Read more about the coronavirus
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Abramovich London
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Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
