Russian region debates Nutcracker 'occult' row
- Published
The classic ballet is widely performed in Russia and beloved around the world
The authorities in a major region of Siberia are to discuss accusations by a local archbishop that The Nutcracker ballet is not a children's Christmas treat but rather a "work of the occult".
Novosibirsk Governor Vladimir Gorodetsky has told reporters they're welcome to attend a round table on the comments by Metropolitan Tikhon, who also thinks the nutcracker that comes to life in the ballet is a "prince shape-shifter", Tass news agency reports, external.
The archbishop made his remarks, external last week at the premiere of a Christmas-themed opera written by the wife of a local priest, which he said "better reflects our traditions in marking the birth of Jesus Christ". Russia celebrates Christmas in January because of differences between its church calendar and that of Western Christianity.
The director of Novosibirsk's Opera and Ballet Theatre, which is staging both the Christmas opera and The Nutcracker, has said he won't be dropping the ballet. Vladimir Kekhman instead suggested that the archbishop was only joking, and accused the media of "stirring itself up into a frenzy" whenever the Orthodox Church comments on the arts. "The devil is the father of lies," he warned Moskovsky Komsomolets, external newspaper.
Metropolitan Tikhon has a penchant for musical criticism, and it has had consequences in the past. Two years ago, he accused the same theatre of desecrating Christian symbols in a controversial staging of Wagner's opera Tannhauser, and even the official Vesti TV, external news programme has dubbed the latest row "Tannhauser 2".
A court ruled at the time that the production hadn't broken the blasphemy law, but the staging was dropped and the director sacked after a round table discussion by figures from the Church, culture ministry and regional authorities.
His replacement, external was one of the few leading theatre heads to condemn Tannhauser as "offensive" to his religious sensibilities - the current director, Vladimir Kekhman.
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