tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post6437501370842844532..comments2023-04-10T04:17:16.433-04:00Comments on The Transcontinental: IdomenonoAndrew W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00071098030747838202noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post-41343926138625478612007-07-26T11:02:00.001-04:002007-07-26T11:02:00.001-04:00I agree with you that Neuenfels took care to use p...I agree with you that Neuenfels took care to use paint his canvas with a wide brush, so that as many people as possible could be offended by his pointless add-on.Andrew W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00071098030747838202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post-551791906595457462007-07-26T11:02:00.000-04:002007-07-26T11:02:00.000-04:00It seems that the cancellation will be revoked and...It seems that the cancellation will be revoked and this opera will be shown after all. What a clever publicity stunt the opera house made by first announcing the cancellation. Usually hardly anybody would be interested in that opera, but now it is the talk of the town. <BR/><BR/>I think I am in a very small minority in Germany who approved of the cancellation. That opera is an insult to other religions (since it shows the severed heads of Jesus and Buddha as well) and to Mozart, the composer, himself.<BR/><BR/>What benefit would we get if we had this opera? It seems the only reason to defend this stupid opera is to avoid giving the impression of appeasement to the Islamofascists. That's not enough for me. I think this opera would only strengthen Islamofasicsm since it would help their propaganda. To win the war on terrorism, we need to have moderate Muslims on our side, so that they don't support the terrorists, but give us information about them. And we want the moderate Muslims to win over their autocratic governments and fundamentalist groups in the Arab world. This opera, however, alienates the moderate Muslims and helps the fundamentalists. <BR/><BR/>Let's not forget that theater plays critical of Christians and Israel also get canceled. Earlier this year: <BR/>"A New York theatre company has put off plans to stage a play about an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza because of the current "political climate" - a decision the play's British director, Alan Rickman, denounced as "censorship"."<BR/>http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/theatre-gets-stagefright-over-play-on-israeli-death-of-activist/2006/02/28/1141095740986.html<BR/><BR/>I am not a fan of Rachel Corrie. Not at all. However, if one criticizes the canellation of the Mozart opera for fear of offending Muslimes, then one should also criticize the canceling of that play for fear of offending supporters of Israel.. <BR/><BR/>Besides: <BR/>"On May 23, 1998, the New York Times announced that the Manhattan Theatre Club would be canceling its scheduled production of playwright Terrence McNally's newest play, Corpus Christi, due to bomb and death threats made against the theatre, its personnel, and the playwright. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights disavowed responsibility for the threats but did publicly applaud the decision, calling the play "blasphemous.""<BR/>http://muse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/access.cgi?uri=/journals/theatre_journal/v051/51.2pr_mcnally.html<BR/><BR/>When Corpus Christi was shown in Germany in 2000, there have been death threats and bomb threats as well:<BR/>http://www.cityinfonetz.de/tagblatt/thema/thema39/<BR/><BR/>Thus it could very well be that the threats against the "Idomeneo" opera are not only coming from Muslims, but from Christians, who don't like to see the severed head of Jesus... Having said that: The concern about attacks from Muslims is bigger.<BR/><BR/>Greetings from Berlin, <BR/>My blog: The Atlantic Review, A press digest on transatlantic affairs edited by three German Fulbright AlumniAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com