Mozart’s
“Idomeneo”: The Show Goes on in Berlin
… [Part 2]
By Dr. Khan Dawood L. Khan
Chicago, IL
When
Kirsten Harms, Director of Deutsche Oper, felt
she had no choice but to cancel it, the police
supported the decision -- just like they supported
German newspapers’ decision not to re-print
the Belgian cartoons of Prophet Mohammad because
that “could hurt the religious feelings
of one group of people.”
Her cancellation was, however, roundly criticized
by the Government, from the Chancellor, Angela
Merkel (the opera house “falling on its
knees before the terrorists” even before
there was a credible threat), down to her Minister
of Interior, Wolfgang Schauble (calling cancellation,
unacceptable and “crazy”), and many
others.
It was Schauble, a supporter of Pope’s comments
on Islam and now engaged in a three-year dialogue
forum between the Government and 30 representatives
of 3.4 million German Muslims, who had the opera
performance reinstated within a couple of days,
overruling the Berlin Security. Michael Naumann,
a former German culture minister and now publisher
of the Weekly ‘Die Zeit’ says the
cancellation was “a slap in the face of
artistic freedom, by the artists themselves,”
adding that “the pope showed the way by
being so extraordinarily apologetic.” However,
Ali Kizilkaya, leader of the Germany ’s
Islamic Council, stated that decapitated head
of Mohammad “would certainly offend Muslims”
and “that is not the right way to open dialogue,”
though he agreed it was “horrible that one
has to (be) afraid.”
Although the show’s director Hans Neuenfels
refused to change the ending because “it
is part of the story,” he had no compunction
whatsoever in blatantly altering Mozart’s
225-old opera. Not just that, his violation of
Mozart even received wide support in the name
of freedom of Neuenfels’ freedom of speech
at the expense of Mozart’s. How preposterous!
Given its WWII and Nazi history, Germany has the
toughest laws anywhere on racial hatred. Its laws
on freedom of speech are, in fact, more restrictive
than in the US. In Germany , neo-Nazi propaganda,
anti-semitism, political radicalism and positive
portrayal of Nazi past are all against the law,
with serious penalties. There, the content is
also censored: Nazi songs, salutes, and symbols,
even in private, are considered illegal. Germany
aggressively tries to ban, based on its laws,
material found and displayed beyond its borders
(including material on Internet, allowed under
the laws of the country of origin), and prosecute
people under "incitement to racial hatred"
laws. In the US , however, Ku Klux Klan (KKK),
White Supremacy and other avowed hate-groups can
demonstrate and organize rallies and marches (as
they did in Skokie, IL , a strongly Jewish suburb
of Chicago), Hitler’s Mein Kampf is openly
sold and even discussed in classrooms; and content
banned in Germany is allowed in the US. Germany,
on the other hand, allows obscenity on radio/TV,
‘dirty words’, some degree of nudity
on day-time TV and soft-core pornography after
prime-time, whereas the US has laws against obscenity
and dirty words on public airwaves, and laws for
movie ratings, parental advisory stickers. Both
the US and Germany protect minors: Despite strong
laws against race hatred, Muslims in Germany still
do not seem to enjoy the same level of protection,
as accorded to the Jews and other religious, ethnic
minorities. Some of the laws in Germany would
clearly violate freedom of speech under the US
constitution.
More relevant to the ‘Idomeneo’ situation
is the censorship in classical music seen in some
countries: In Israel, Wagner wasn’t played
for many years (though not formally banned), because
of his anti-semitism and association with Nazi
era marches, etc.; even Beethoven was treated
the same way, dead long before the Nazis, he wasn’t
even accused of being anti-semitic. Simon Rattle,
the British conductor, once created controversy
by playing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Daniel
Barenboim, the highly respected Jewish Director
of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, tried to make German
classical music acceptable in Israel, but created
major controversy by conducting Wagner (an anti-semite)
in Jerusalem (summer 2001); he was denounced as
fascist in the press (though some thought it was
censorship of his work that reflected that unfortunate
characterization much better). He agreed not to
conduct Wagner’s Walkure, in face of protests
from the Israeli government and Holocaust survivors:
this can be considered ‘self-censorship’,
the same dreaded and despised word German government
raised in case of Idomeneo cancellation, and earlier
in case of Belgian cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.
As I mentioned before, in Neuenfels’ Idomeneo,
Moses’ head was much too conspicuous by
its absence: Moses, the founding father of Judaism
and a Prophet in Islam (equal in status with his
descendants, Mohammad and Jesus)! If religion-induced
conflicts were Neuensfels’ real theme, Judaism
should have had a place because it has certainly
been in the middle of many conflicts for centuries.
Absence of Moses on that stage was probably because
of strict laws against any anti-semitic expression
in post-war Germany (unfortunately, NO such constitutional
protection is extended to Muslims).
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