Berlin Cancels Soccer Opera
The Berlin State Opera has canceled Soccersongs, an opera commissioned to mark the finals of soccer's World Cup in Germany this summer, the company announced.
In a statement, the Staatsoper said that "the artistic visions of the team are not financially realizable because of the enormous technical expenditure [involved]."
Soccersongs, a collaboration between director Robert Wilson and composer Herbert Groenemeyer, was to feature robots, projection screens, and inflatable objects.
"The first big scene will be a soccer match with dinosaurs," Wilson said at a press conference last fall. "The second scene will show cavewomen and dinosaurs. It will be an event for the family."
The opera was to be part of a larger cultural program surrounding the finals, which includes dance, film, visual art, literature, and a soccer oratorio titled Die Tiefe des Raumes (The Depths of Space).
By Ben Mattison
10 Mar 2006