Civil Protection Storm Alert Halts 'Aida' at Gran Teatre del Liceu
A Civil Protection storm alert interrupted Gran Teatre del Liceu's 'Aida' on Sept. 28, with hundreds of phones ringing in a 97 percent full house as Anna Netrebko smiled on stage.
Programme
- Gran Teatre del Liceu's 'Aida' was interrupted on Sept. 28 by a Civil Protection storm alert.
- The theater was at 97 percent capacity; hundreds of phones rang with the notification.
- Anna Netrebko starred as Aida, with Antonello Manacorda conducting; the run continues to Oct. 15, 2026.
Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu stopped its performance of "Aida" on Sept. 28 after Catalonia's Civil Protection agency issued a storm alert to mobile phones across the region.
According to La Vanguardia, which first reported the incident and shared a video of the moment, the alert warned of a storm forecast for Tuesday, Sept. 29. The push notification reached hundreds of devices inside the theater. The house was filled to 97 percent capacity, and phones that had not been fully switched off rang out with persistent alerts as the interruption unfolded.
Soprano Anna Netrebko, singing the title role of Aida, was visibly smiling during the pause, a video of the performance shows.
The performance resumed its run with a cast that also included Ekaterina Semenchuk, Arsen Soghomonyan, Alexander Köpeczi, and Artur Ruciński. Antonello Manacorda conducted.
The incident underscores a growing friction point for live performance venues: government emergency broadcast systems, designed to reach every switched-on phone in a given area, do not distinguish between a street and an auditorium. The Liceu, one of Europe's oldest and largest opera houses, had a near-full house when the alerts arrived, and the accumulation of ringing devices forced the performance to a halt.
La Vanguardia's video, shared on Instagram, captures the moment the notifications disrupted the evening — an increasingly common occurrence at cultural events as countries expand their emergency alert programs.
"Aida" continues at the Gran Teatre del Liceu through Oct. 15, 2026, giving Barcelona audiences further chances to see Netrebko's portrayal — ideally, next time, without accompaniment from Civil Protection.
Original: instagram.com
