Just before the curtain dropped on an otherwise uneventful opera, the grisly scene that everyone came to see finally transpired. The King of Crete pulled the severed head of the prophet Muhammad out of a sack and triumphantly placed it on a wooden chair, next to three decapitated deities.
A few loud shouts of "Jawohl!" or "That's right!" erupted from the audience, along with some scattered jeering, as the long-delayed production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" came to a conclusion. Dozens of security men wearing earpieces scanned the crowd for trouble. But much to the relief of the anxious German authorities, no physical violence or terrorist threats were reported. Nor did any organized protests occur outside.
Yet the controversy over the once-obscure remake of "Idomeneo" showed few signs of subsiding. German politicians, religious leaders and others continued to bicker about the broader meaning of the production, the latest symbol in a debate over whether European society and millions of Muslim newcomers to the continent are socially compatible.
Did the opera -- three months after it was canceled because of vague fears that it might inspire violence by offended Muslims -- represent the triumph of artistic freedom over religious intolerance? Or was it just an over-hyped case of bad taste being forced on the German public?
Many members of Berlin's ruling elite braved the metal detectors and extra security deployed by the Deutsche Oper to attend the Monday night premiere of "Idomeneo," saying they wanted to make a public showing in favor of free speech and democratic values. The mayor of Berlin was there, as well as Germany's culture minister and interior minister and religious leaders of several persuasions.
"We should make a common stand," said another dignitary in the audience, Kenan Kolat, leader of a national association representing Germany's 3 million residents of Turkish descent. All together, about 1,800 people attended, not quite a full house.
'Particularly tasteless and bloody'
Attracting just as much attention were the no-shows, including two Muslim leaders who had declined personal invitations to attend from Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
Ali Kizilkaya, chairman of the 150,000-member German Islamic Council, said he favored free speech but had no interest in seeing an opera that he found personally offensive. "This is a particularly tasteless and bloody opera," he said. "My prophet is decapitated in this opera. That is not something that I need to watch."
Aiman Mazyek, secretary general of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, another national organization, also turned down an official invitation, saying the opera had become politicized.
A spokesman for the council, Mounir Azzaoui, pointed out that Muslims had never organized protests against the opera or called for its cancellation in the first place. Nor should they feel obliged to support it, he said.
"The call to cancel the opera did not come from Muslims, it came from politicians," he said. "It set off a feigned debate that freedom of speech was in danger, as if the Muslims were out to threaten freedom of speech in Germany."
"Idomeneo" was canceled in September when the Deutsche Oper -- one of three opera houses in Berlin -- announced that it had received warnings from police that it could be a security risk.
Religious tensions in Europe have been running high for the past year, with worldwide protests erupting after a Danish newspaper published cartoons satirizing Muhammad. More protests followed a few months later when Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech that his critics assailed as a veiled attack on Islam as a violent religion.
The show premiered at the Deutsche Oper in 2003 but attracted little notice at the time. The modern-day adaptation is seen as a harsh criticism of organized religion, with Idomeneo, the King of Crete, facing orders from the gods to kill his son, Idamante. In the end, the king and his son prevail, as Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha and Poseidon are stripped to their underwear on stage and decapitated.
Merkel: 'Self-censorship'
German lawmakers pressured the Deutsche Oper to resume the production, saying that Europe should not give in to anxiety over religious extremism. Chancellor Angela Merkel called the cancellation "self-censorship for reasons of fear."
But criticism of the opera has persisted from other corners as well. Bishop Wolfgang Huber of Germany's Lutheran church said he wasn't enamored of the show, either, calling the decapitation scene "not ideal."
Even the creator of the Mozart remix was unhappy with the way it turned out. Director Hans Neuenfels did not attend Monday's performance and publicly ridiculed the Deutsche Oper's performance.
Although Neuenfels complained that the rehearsals hadn't gone well, he also said he was still sore over the Oper's original decision to cancel the show. It wasn't the first time one of his edgy productions had attracted the police. A quarter-century ago, a bomb threat was reported during another opera that he directed in Frankfurt. That show went on, he pointed out, and nothing happened.
"Naturally, they should let this production take place," he told the German magazine Der Spiegel. "If necessary, with police protection. Afterward, a discussion would have been necessary. That would have been democratic."
The next performance of "Idomeneo" is scheduled for Dec. 29. Plenty of tickets remain.
Special correspondent Shannon Smiley contributed to this report.
