mythical myrrh...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin opera house condemned for canceling performances of a Mozart work because of concern it might provoke violence by Muslims said on Thursday it might consider staging the production if it had security assurances.

"If there was a new security plan, we could consider it," Alexander Busche, a spokesman for the Deutsche Oper, said when asked about reinstating "Idomeneo," which includes a scene with the severed heads of the Prophet Mohammad, Buddha and Jesus.

He said that although the opera house had already decided on its program until mid-June, there were some free days which could be used.


A row erupted after the opera house said on Monday it had replaced four performances of the Mozart work scheduled for November with "The Marriage of Figaro" and "La Traviata."

Deutsche Oper director Kirsten Harms said the police had warned her of an "incalculable" security risk if she went ahead with the production.

Her decision sparked condemnation across Germany, including from Chancellor Angela Merkel and artists who said Germans should not cave in to fears of Islamic violence.

A police spokesman told Reuters police would be available if the opera house decided to stage the work, but said there had been no consultations yet with the opera house management.

Michael Schindhelm, the head of the foundation that oversees Berlin's opera houses, said he was working with the Deutsche Opera to find ways to reinstate "Idomeneo."

"It would make sense to bring this show back," he told German radio.

DIRECTOR ADDED SCENE

The opera, telling the story of the Cretan king Idomeneo, was first performed in 1782. Director Hans Neuenfels added the controversial scene to the current production, which had its premiere in 2003. It has not been performed since mid-2004.

Anger among many Germans has been reflected in the media.


"Why are we bowing to Islam?" read Thursday's front page of the top-selling daily Bild. Inside it showed a photomontage of Berlin's parliament building with minarets and an Islamic crescent superimposed on its central glass dome.

Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber said succumbing to fear represented a victory for terrorists. "We must never give up our constitutional freedoms out of fear of Islamist thought-terrorism," he told Bild.

Germany's Muslim groups have kept quiet but the row highlights the growing fear of Islamic radicalism around Europe.

Two weeks ago Pope Benedict enraged Muslims by quoting from a medieval text linking the spread of Islam to violence. Last year, publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper triggered violent Muslim protests.

A conference on Islam on Wednesday to promote dialogue between Muslims and the government was overshadowed by the row.

"We want a dialogue with Germany's Muslims who no longer simply represent a foreign group, but who are an integral part of our society," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who has moved integration up the political agenda, told parliament.

(reuters)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So many fears revolving on the world right now, fears of reactions. Religious people sometimes is so easilly offended.