What an opera director said to get fired

Peter Konwitschny has been talking to BR about the ‘inappropriate and discriminatory’ comments for which he was fired by Nuremberg State Opera’s Trovatore.

He says that the incident occurred in a chorus rehearsal when he told the singers dressed as nuns to recoil at the sight of a gun. ‘One of the nuns was a black singer, Ms. M., with whom I’ve worked for a long time, and she turned away completely in fear of the gun. I interrupted and said: Ms. M., that’s different, when you’re in such a horror situation, your body wants to go, but your gaze sticks, you can’t stop it. And then I added: It’s like in Africa, if a lion comes towards you, then you can’t look away either. That’s it.’

He continued: ‘The next day I received an email saying that I had allegedly behaved in a ‘racially discrediting manner.’