‘Headless opera’ puts police on alert
From George Jahn

BERLIN—Audience members at Monday’s Deutsche Oper production of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” will be kindly asked to empty their pockets of all metal objects. And they should be prepared to leave — quickly — in case of a bomb alert.
The Austrian musical genius born 250 years ago was noted for an impish sense of humour and some directors take huge liberties with their interpretations of operas. But the security measures for the performance, which include electronic screening of opera goers and evacuation precautions, are not part of the plot.
It’s a case of art meeting religious sensibility — and a decision that the show must go on, despite concerns that the production, featuring the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad, could prompt violence.
Mozart might wonder what the heads of Islam’s founder, along with those of Jesus, Buddha and the Greek god of the seas, Poseidon, are doing in his opera. They are the brainchild of the director Hans Neuenfels, whose production first premiered three years ago. While some critics found the twist trite back then, it aroused little attention outside the opera world.
But that was before a Danish newspaper cartoon of Muhammad led to Muslim riots worldwide — and before comments by German-born Pope Benedict XVI further inflamed sensibilities in the Islamic world, just as the Neuenfels production was to be revived. Such fears initially led the opera house to cancel plans to revive the production, but a city proud of its openness, tolerance and artistic verve was aghast.
While some Muslim leaders praised the decision, even Kenan Kolat, the leader of Germany’s Turkish community, equated it with a step “back in the Middle Ages.” Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against “self-censorship out of fear,” and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble — in charge of police — described it as “crazy.” So the show is back, though only after a last-minute scramble after the four props were either mislaid or stolen by pranksters. New ones were made.
Despite such a scathing dismissal from its creator, the controversy has focused international interest on the production — a potentially welcome development for a house that competes for audience against two other opera companies in the German capital and is usually is no more than two-thirds full. But tickets were still available just a few days before the performance.