Berlin opera house reinstates controversial opera 05/10/2006 00:00

5 October 2006

BERLIN - The Berlin opera house which last week cancelled a production for fear of protests by Muslims announced Wednesday it was reinstating Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but set no date.

Media and German politicians have accused Deutsche Oper Berlin of practising "self-censorship" and kowtowing to violent radicals.

First staged in 2003, the production has a scene devised by director Hans Neuenfels and not in the original Mozart opera that shows the hero laughing at the severed heads of the Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ and the Buddha.

Opera house spokesman Alexander Busche said, "The earliest slot for the production is in December, but first we need an okay about security from the police." City police are expected to mount a strong guard at the theatre if there are any demonstrations outside.

Germany's opera-loving Chancellor Angela Merkel led criticism of the theatre, but Germany's most senior Lutheran bishop, Wolfgang Huber of Berlin, criticised the decapitation scene as "not ideal."

Reviewers say the scene was a denunciation of all religions.

DPA

Subject: German news