“Taking Klinghoffer to Brooklyn, to the white-hot epicenter of Jewish culture in the US, was probably a daft thing to do,” Adams ruefully admitted in a 2002 interview quoted in “Klinghoffer in Brooklyn Heights,” a 2005 essay by UCLA musicologist Robert Fink. Hardly convincing to a New York audience who still remembered 9/11. He has written five operas, notably Nixon in China (1987), which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, Doctor Atomic (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb, and the controversial The Death of Klinghoffer (1991), based on the hijacking of the … Shavuot Under Fire: Art as an Instrument of Conscience, A violent mob destroyed the oasis we created in Acre, IDF carrying out ‘widespread’ strikes in Gaza as US calls to end violence now, US says violence must end immediately; UN envoy said stepping up ceasefire push, Southern communities pounded by Gaza rockets; PM: Fighting will take more time, IDF believes it significantly hurt Hamas, and that’s the best it can do for now, ‘Screams under the rubble’: 42 said killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, 2 killed, over 160 hurt as synagogue bleacher collapses near Jerusalem. In my capacity as a rabbi with a pulpit in Manhattan only a few blocks from where the controversial " The Death Of Klinghoffer" opera premiered a few weeks ago, I resisted the pressures on me to run immediately down to Lincoln Center and protest something I had not yet heard or read.S So it's not surprising that it hasn't … See it first; then decide if the rumors are right. The opera dramatizes the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro by four members of the Palestinian … That’s the Metropolitan Opera’s ad slogan for The Death of Klinghoffer, a controversial work by composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman that has been polarizing the public and inciting protest since 1991. The crowd, convinced that Adams' opera highlighted antisemitic sentiments, kept their distance as they … The opera fails to note that the massacres at Sabra and Shaitla were committed by Christian militias, not Israelis. A week after the premier of The Death of Klinghoffer by the celebrated contemporary composer John Adams (Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic), protesters continued to line the streets at Lincoln Center. Composer John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer (the librettist is Alice Goodman) characterizes the Arab-Israel conflict through use of a murder that took place in 1985 following the Palestinian hijacking of a cruise ship off the coast of Egypt. Ticket holders in gowns and tuxedos gingerly ascended the steps outside the Met past news cameras, security crews, and protesters screaming, “Shame on you!”, “It wasn’t your usual night at the opera,” says Kate Bolick, a Brooklyn-based writer and editor who was among the audience that evening. “Inside the hall there was a crackle in the air, a buzz, a wondering if something unexpected was about to happen, and what would that be? All Rights Reserved. What Will Green Hydrogen Mean for International Relations? birds! Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Former Governor Pataki believe the opera is politically inflammatory and should be shut down. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message. Watching it … Composer John Adams' controversial "The Death of Klinghoffer" opened Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera to a chorus of protests, while inside the Lincoln Center theater, the show went on. After the massive controversy which surrounded the first performances of John Adams' opera The Death of Klinghoffer in 1991/92, the work practically disappeared. The Death of Klinghoffer was performed March 16 and 22 at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, Calif. The opera depicts the murder as understandable righteous anger. The opera, accused of promoting terrorism and anti-Semitism, has been dubbed “The Terror Opera” in some corners of the press. Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. A performance from the Coliseum in London of John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer. When O'Leary, general director of the Opera Theater of St. Louis, decided to bring "Klinghoffer" to town, the full opera hadn't been staged in the United States in 20 years. Klinghoffer is included so the viewer might be led to understand why Palestinian terrorism occurs. Wait, There’s Noise Pollution at the Bottom of the Ocean? The form flourished in the 1950s, as poets and musicians inspired each other to new heights. Some critics have … For instance, the Jewish exiles’ efforts working the land in the second act results in the raising of two naked Christ-like crucified figures, replete with outstretched arms. Those interested in the history of knitting will find them a rich primary source for research. The opera, accused of promoting terrorism and anti-Semitism, has been dubbed “The Terror Opera” in some corners of the press. The Death of Klinghoffer demonizes Israel—which is what anti-Semitism is partly about today. The way it is structured is unusual in this regard, but it is not devoid of operatic drama. Help us keep publishing stories that provide scholarly context to the news. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. How American Girl Scouts Shocked Mexico in the 1950s. In this opera, it is the murderers who are the victims and Leon Klinghoffer is a mere prop to the Palestinian suffering. It should first be emphasized that the opera is NOT about the murder of Leon Klinghoffer. The Death of Klinghoffer, The opera accused of promoting terrorism and anti-Semitism, has been dubbed “The Terror Opera” in some corners of the press. They were frightened but “at least they were not Jews”, a fairly chilling reminder of the acquiescence to the Nazis by Europeans or maybe it was a statement to the audience that they really had nothing to fear from the Palestinian terrorists because this was only aimed at Jews. Operas rarely receive national and international news interest-but this one does. A performance from the Coliseum in London of John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer. Like most of the protesters, none of the aforementioned politicians has actually seen the production; however, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was there on opening night; and at the end of the performance she was spotted rising to her feet for a standing ovation. The Death of Klinghoffer Synopsis The Death of Klinghoffer offers a fictionalized account of the infamous Achille Lauro incident of 1985, in which Palestinian terrorists boarded an Italian cruise ship, held its passengers and crew hostage, and killed an elderly, Jewish, wheelchair-bound American named Leon Klinghoffer. The years annually are flashed across the stage ending in 2014, some 29 years after the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. Protestors yell at counter-protestors and opera attendees at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on opening night of the opera, "The Death of Klinghoffer" on October 20, 2014 in … Several important events in the historical narrative--including Klinghoffer's death … “But it’s important to look deeply inside implacable conflicts like those in the Middle East, and to recognize that terror is not committed by alien beings, but by human beings. Opera Review: The Death of Klinghoffer "Nixon in China" composer John Adams' topical opera about the 1985 terrorist hijacking of a cruise ship docks in Long Beach. They are “idealists”. But supporters say the protesters, most of whom have never seen it or even listened to a recording, are missing the point. She is also the Treasurer of COPMA, Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art. So the opera opens with the false equivalence of the Holocaust with the displacement of Palestinians in the 1948 war. So right from the start you know this is not about something that happened in 1985. Other people on board the ship recount their memories. Since its premiere in 1991 in Brussels, “The Death of Klinghoffer” has attracted fiery condemnation as well as passionate defense. John Adams' opera The Death of Klinghoffer relates the murder of a disabled Jewish man killed by Palestinian gunmen in 1985. As the terrorists explain, they are “not criminals”. “I don’t see the opera as making a political statement, but rather undertaking a deep and nuanced exploration of human motivation and behavior,” says Susan Scheid, a New York-based author who was in the audience on opening night in Brooklyn in 1991. Tonight, as you watch The Death of Klinghoffer, a baritone will play the role of Leon Klinghoffer, and sing “The Aria of the Falling Body” as he artfully falls … The action takes place on shipboard with a background of the separation barrier erected, of course, after 2005, to keep out the terrorists who blew up buses, cafes, and family celebrations slaughtering and maiming thousands, with graffiti saying Free Palestine and Welcome to the Ghetto. Is modern opera The Death of Klinghoffer anti-Semitic? Much of the critical reaction to the premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer in 1991 was angrily unfavourable. His body washed up on the Syrian shore a few days later.