Metropolitan Opera axes simulcast of 'Death of Klinghoffer'

The Metropolitan Opera announced on Tuesday that a planned simulcast of the opera The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams has been cancelled.

The plan was to air the opera at several theaters across the country, but officials say that an "outpouring of concern" caused them to rethink the simulcast, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Several Jewish groups came forward and said they are worried that Klinghoffer could stoke anti-Semitic feelings.

"I'm convinced that the opera is not anti-Semitic," the Met's general manager Peter Gelb said. But he admitted "there is genuine concern in the international Jewish community that the live transmission of 'The Death of Klinghoffer' would be inappropriate at this time of rising anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe."

According to The New York Times, the opera follows the 1985 Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro hijacking. Palestine Liberation Front members took over the ship and killed a Jewish-American passenger, who was also disabled.

The opera opens at the Met on Oct. 20 and was set to be simulcast on Nov. 15.

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