Singing opera in a surgical mask

'When one sings opera, there are deep inhalations and deep exhalations, so if breathing is restricted, we get tired very easily, ' says French chorist Sylvie Delaunay. Photo: AFP

No one loves wearing a mask at work, but spare a thought for the chorus of the Paris Opera, having to project through multiple layers of cotton and polyester.

When they took the stage recently for a rehearsal at the Bastille opera house, the 70 or so chorus members certainly did not appear to have lost any of their sonorous beauty.