Posted on 09/28/2006 6:51:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
German opera chiefs who cancelled a Mozart opera for fear of offending Muslims were hit by a furious backlash yesterday.
The country's leader Angela Merkel condemned the decision as 'self-censorship out of fear' - and even Muslim leaders apparently agreed the show should be reinstated.
At a summit of religious leaders and security chiefs, the two sides decided they may go to see the show together, according to interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
Last night pressure was on Berlin's Deutsche Oper to reverse its decision to cancel the production of Idomeneo. The company was said to be monitoring developments. Deutsche Oper announced on Tuesday that it had scrapped its staging of the opera because of a scene in which the severed head of the prophet Mohammed rolls on to the stage.
The depiction posed an 'incalculable security risk' for the theatre, they said, and four performances planned for November were replaced by The Marriage of Figaro and La Traviata.
The company clearly feared the kind of violent outbursts triggered earlier this month when the Pope quoted a medieval writer's view of Islam as 'evil and inhuman'.
His words led to worldwide protests and a nun was shot dead in Somalia. Similarly last year cartoons of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper caused violent Muslim protests around the world.
Deutsche Oper had been advised by police that the production could be inflammatory. But its decision to cancel outraged Germany's artistic and cultural elite and touched off a row which reached the highest echelons of government.
'I think the cancellation was a mistake,' said Chancellor Merkel. 'I think self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practise violence in the name of Islam. It makes no sense to retreat.'
The controversy is over a scene in the epilogue, where Idomeneo, the king of Crete, comes on stage with a bloody sack in his hand. He pulls the heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed out of the sack and places them triumphantly on four chairs.
Mozart's opera, premiered in 1781, addresses human resistance to making sacrifices to the gods, but the controversial scene is a departure from the original and is the interpretation of the Berlin production's director, Hans Neuenfels.
The timing of yesterday's meeting between politicians and leaders of the country's 3million Muslims was particularly opportune.
Organised with a more general agenda of bringing Muslims and Christians closer together, it found itself debating a hotly topical issue.
Mr Schaeuble said there had been differences of opinion at the summit, which was intended 'to achieve results, not exchange pleasantries'. But he said the one thing participants agreed on was
the opera cancellation should be reversed.
His interpretation of Muslim feeling, however, appeared at odds with a statement from the leader of Germany's Islamic Council, who welcomed the cancellation of the opera saying it 'could certainly offend Muslims'.
Integration has become a priority for the German government as concern grows about Islamic radicalisation across Europe and the emergence of an underclass of disillusioned young Muslims, mainly Turks, in Germany.
Organisers of the summit were not available to comment on reports that all participants had been invited to a snack after the meeting, even though it is Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
Now how long will this go on? Will Germany be self censoring itself into the next century? If the west doesn't hurry up and win this long war all cultural references to Islam will be on the debating table for years to come. If some recent Mozart writes an opera about Islam (where the camels all sing three part harmonies) will he be given a fair sheik... I mean a fair shake? It is all well and fine for the west to present the piss christ as the next big artistic mega culpa movement, highlighting clever insights into the morass... nay, into the fatuous deluge of bleeding heart religious culture, but try it with Islam... I mean if you spell Mohammad's name wrong there will riots in the street! So, when will the insanity stop!
May this be the start of the Muslim and Christian worlds living in peace. I can only hope and pray.
If that doesn't work then I guess we need to to bomb them back to the stone age (that is only a couple years before what they are living now).
NO2
They are both mighty fine but only stepping to stones to 'Die Zauberflote'. DZ is the apotheosis of Mozart's operas, the greatest opera ever composed in the history of opera. Heck, even Beethoven agreed.
The fabulous Sophia Loren was great in "El Cid," a movie that should be re-released today.
The Huns - either at your throats or at your feet.
Did Christians riot? After all, we know that Jesus's head is still attached to his body after the resurrection.
Curiosity got the best of me, I confess. I put your Mr. Mtzbllke moniker in the search window and scrolled through several posts.
...Interesting, thoughtful, and for the most part (it seemed to me) well-informed. The guys in the jack boots will be after you in no time, LOOK OUT!
But this particular post/query about the opera never got a response, and I was curious myself, so here's the tip-off:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,439393,00.html
For some reason, this particular production (don't ask me if it's in the original libretto) features the severed head of Mohommed. Talk about your subtle turnabouts!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.