Sex - Laced Mozart Raises Scandal at Berlin Opera

[pagerbear]

BERLIN (Reuters) - An opera featuring rape, torture and masturbation, a nude bass singing an aria in the shower and a cross-dressing hero who rounds off the night by slaughtering a troupe of semi-naked prostitutes has caused a scandal in Berlin.

Mozart's ``Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail'' (The Abduction from the Seraglio), one of the 18th century Austrian composer's most popular operas, is usually played as a sparkling comedy of relationships set in the grounds of a mythical Turkish palace.

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Performances have been well attended since the run opened last week and warmly applauded by those who did not walk out, with several people bringing along opera glasses to follow the action more closely.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-arts-germany-sex.html

[Misunderestimator]

1. A "sparkling comedy of relationships..."

"set in the grounds of a mythical Turkish palace"... not even close to what Mozart intended which would have been a bawdy comedy of relationships set in a Turkish harem. I just LOVE Berlin!! Give me those opera glasses... :)

[Kellanved]

2. yes

I had tickets, but - shame on me - traded them in for "The love for three oranges" tickets.

And believe me: it takes more than " semi-naked" to create a scandal in Berlin.

It was a produced scandal, helped by the Tabloid press - which usually does not review Operas, nor seems to have problems with naked people.
What galls me about the media in this case, is that the "Bild" tabloid started a campaign to withdraw corporate funding for the comical opera house - one of the best in Berlin.
So far Daimler-Chrysler was proud to proclaim that it has ceased it's support for the house - just an excuse to cut back on culture spending, if you ask me. So please boycott those self-proclaimed censors.

[pagerbear]

3. When my friend was in the chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

...he told me about a Trovatore production that got booed. When the fellas come to kidnap Leonore from the convent, they wind up dancing with the nuns. Everyone is dressed in the colors of pastel cake icing. There's a huge human crucifix on stage with a living Jesus with lights on his hands and feet for stigmata--Jesus climbs down off the cross to dance with a bishop. Why should anyone object to that?