Lurid Nazi-themed production of Wagner opera cancelled
Company explains Wagner production only in concert form since it made some ill
It was supposed to be one of the highlights of Richard Wagner anniversary celebrations, but a controversial Nazi-themed production of his Tannhäuser has been cancelled after it caused some audience members to seek medical help and prompted others to walk out in anger.
A cascade of boos during Saturday's opening night performance turned into a flood of complaints about scenes of shootings and gassings.
The management of Düsseldorf's Deutsche Oper am Rhein quickly decided that it was better heard than seen, announcing that it would now be performed as a concert, with singing and music but little in the way of staging or costumes.
"We are reacting with the utmost concern to the fact that a few scenes, particularly a very realistic depiction of a shooting scene, obviously led to great stress for numerous visitors," the company said on its website. "We cannot justify such an extreme effect of our artistic work."
German society has never fully come to terms with Wagner's mixture of artistic brilliance, poisonous anti-Semitism and, in particular, his posthumous exaltation at the hands of the Nazis.
Debates about the composer's place in German culture have reached a new high with the yearlong celebration of his work that has accompanied what would have been his 200th birthday.