Campaign against Muslims in Germany generates Mozart opera controversy

The shock of recent days was visible on the face of Kirsten Harms, the director of the German Opera House in Berlin. Following her recent decision to remove Mozart’s opera Idomeneo from the schedule of the opera house, she found herself at the center of a swirling controversy.

In the middle of September she received a warning from the Berlin interior minister, Ehrhard Körting (Social Democratic Party—SPD) and the Berlin criminal agency (LKA), which led her to take the unusual step of canceling the performance.

Following its own investigation, the LKA had come to the conclusion that the presentation of Idomeneo at the German Opera could create “a dangerous scenario with major potential consequences for public security and order.”

The LKA statement continued: “The present worldwide situation is characterized by a broad rejection of Western ideology by parts of the Muslim world population. Amongst other things, the situation is exacerbated by military actions in different Muslim-dominated countries, which are interpreted by Islamic fundamentalists as an attack on their religion. Calls for resistance on the basis of, in part, ‘petty reasons’ have led to substantial reactions (controversy over Mohammed caricature).”

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