Opera Canceled in Jerusalem

An $11.5-million opera performance that was to have been a highlight of Israel’s 40th anniversary celebration has been canceled because of unrest on the Israeli-occupied West Bank, officials said Saturday.

Michael Ecker, president of Opera on Original Sites, Inc., said he called off the May 15-29 run of the opera “Nabucco” because the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London pulled out in the wake of the rioting.

Ecker said the London orchestra had blamed its cancellation on “unrest and security problems” due to the months of rioting by Palestinians on the occupied West Bank.

“Nabucco,” with a budget of $11.5 million and a cast of 1,100 performers, would have been the largest and most expensive opera ever staged and a highlight of Israel’s yearlong celebration of its 40 years as a nation, Ecker said.

The production, featuring Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova, Grace Bumbry and Galina Savova, was to have been staged at the Sultan’s Pool, an outdoor concert site at the base of the Old City walls of Jerusalem.