Plants serenaded at Barcelona's Liceu opera house

The first concert after lockdown at the Liceu opera house on Barcelona's iconic Rambla boulevard was held before a full audience - of plants!

2,292 plants were placed in the audience while a string quartet performed Giacomo Puccini's 'Crisantemi' in honor of healthcare workers and their efforts during the pandemic.

Eugenio Ampudia, the creative artist behind this original idea, explains that he wanted the opera house to be "alive" even when there aren't people in the audience: "Why not bring plants into the Liceu to turn it into a living space even when there's nobody there?" 

According to Ampudia, the pandemic has completely changed society. "The world we live in now is not the same as that of 90 days ago, and that has to be reflected in the things we do," he claims.

This new world must also be considered in terms of our relationship to nature, Ampudia believes, and the idea for this concert came to him "naturally" after observing nature flourish while people were forced to stay home during the Covid-19 lockdown. 

The plants will be gifted to medical professionals at Barcelona's Hospital Clínic who worked at "the toughest front in a battle unprecedented for our generations," the Liceu website states.