Section 14

Mozart’s Idomeneo was performed at Deutsche Oper Berlin last night after being cancelled in September due to fears of violent reprisals from Muslims upset by the opera’s depiction of a decapitated Mohammed.

Deutsche-Welle reported in September:

The Deutsche Oper in Berlin announced Monday “with great regret” that it had scratched Hans Neuenfels’ version of the Mozart opera “Idomeneo” from the program this season because certain scenes presented an “incalculable security risk” for the theater.

“To avoid endangering the public and its employees, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin has decided to refrain from showing “Idomeneo” in November,” the opera house said.

Last night the opera opened to heavy security and there was only a minor disturbance during the scene in question.

After a great deal of sturm and drang about artistic freedom, opera fans and politicians attended the controversial Hans Neuenfels production of Mozart’s Idomeneo opera. The holy heads rolled, but the night was otherwise peaceful.

Let’s hope others take strength from this decision and choose not to be cowed by hyperbolically violent, thin-skinned Islamic protesters.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 20th, 2006 at 8:36 am and is filed under Islam, Chilling Effect, Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.