Published: 18 February 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
IN THE TEATRO MASSIMO di Palermo’s new production of Wagner’s opera Parsifal, Western soldiers posted in the Middle East enact terrifying rituals, before sensuous flower maidens provocatively shed their hijabs. The most powerful scenes, however, come from members of the Rainbow Choir. Comprising children from Palermo’s migrant community, its appearance brings Wagner’s abstruse celebration of compassion into blindingly sharp focus.
As the Sicilian capital emerges from the ravages of a devastating war with the Mafia, the theatre has led efforts to reforge the city’s identity through culture. And, with the arrival of the Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber as music director, an exciting new era has dawned
“People have to understand that what is happening in the theatre has a relationship to their lives,” Wellber tells me following the opening performance of Parsifal, his first production in charge. “Our generation has a responsibility: to correct the mistakes of a classical music world that thought distancing the audience was a good thing.”
FULL STORY The Israeli conductor who is beating the Mafia with music (Jewish Chronicle)
Photo: Omer Meir Wellber conducts Parsifal
