Exclusive: Oman’s Royal Opera bans Israeli mezzo on safety grounds
OperaNext month, the Opera Carlo Felice of Genoa is taking its production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the Royal Opera House of Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman.
But one key singer will be missing. Hagar Sharvit, who plays the role of Hermia, has been told she cannot join the cast. The reason given is concern for her safety.
The Royal Opera’s Director General and Artistic Director is the Italian Umberto Fanni. We have asked him for comment.
Sickening. If the Genoese opera company had any balls they would cancel.
Sure the country known for integrity and where their most famous conductor-hero Muti hosted a gala with Putin bass singing – they will surely show a spine and cancel
Need the money…
She shouldn’t have to pay for the barbarian treatment of Palestinians by Israel.
Does she condemn the barbarian treatment of Palestinians by Israel, though?
She is paying for the barbaric treatment of Israelis by Hamas
I thought that the likes of you disappeared after 1945
Please don’t outsmart yourself with your racist ignorant comments. The defense of the own country is never barbaric, it is just a duty.
Or maybe she should be shown extra consideration for having her countrymen raped, burned, and otherwise barbarically murdered at the hands of Palestinians.
You mean the barbarian treatment of Hamas/toward Israelis
Please describe in your own words the slaughter, mutilation and rape of 1400 Israelis by the genocidal (and I use that word advisedly) islamists of Hamas.
Who should pay for the barbaric treatment of the Israeli hostages?
Hagar Sharvit is also Israeli. She didn’t state the reason for the ban so let’s not immediately ascribe the ban to racism. Oman historically treated Jews well. Did Royal Opera House of Muscat accept Israeli singers before the current war started? If so then the boycott is an unfortunate and yet understandable response. Keep in mind that Jewish people successfully organized boycotts against German musicians before WWII even started. If it’s widely perceived in the region, including Oman one of the more progressive and well-run muslim countries, that Israel is committing war crimes against an Arab population, then this reaction can hardly be blamed. Perhaps the tour should be called off or postponed until happier times.
What a repulsive justification of discriminatory treatment. She is a singer, not a politician.
So we ban now all Arab artists for the atrocities on October 7th? Really? You compare the struggle for peace and safety for Israel with the Germans in WW2? I worked with Hagar Sharit and I’m German. And I worked with tons of Arab Artists. So for whatever reason she is not part of the summer night dream production, it’s wrong. The whole production should not play in Oman. And by the way: What warcrimes are you talking about. Don’t fall for Hamas propaganda.
You are not Omani though. Hamas/IDF are not attacking Germans. You as a party outside of the conflict obviously shouldn’t ban either Jews or Arabs.
As for war crimes, history will give us the answer. I for one do not think what Israel did will be looked upon favourably.
Hamas/Palestinians are and have treated war crimes AGAINST Israelis for 30 years, since failed Oslo accords
And is Israel abiding by the Oslo Accords? No, they are not. Israel has illegal settlements & a military presence in the West Bank, which violate international law. So let’s ask why the Oslo Accords have failed, what precipitated this war & Israel’s role in both. This war did not start with Oct. 7.
She is Israeli AND a German. The ban is clearly because she is Jewish. Agreed her safety is the most important thing. Sickening that a singer who is non political should be treated in such a manner. Now I understand why so many Israeli singers have decided to be silent during the war and why some who have been vocal have removed the mention of their nationality from their bios. Perhaps she couldn’t enter Oman with her passport because she was born in Israel. We should all be horrified. And yet Netrebko sing in Paris….
Her country is in process of committing unspeakable war crimes against Palestine and Palestinians. How is her safety not at risk under these circumstances?
Nor is there any reason for the company to let themselves be guilt-tripped into cancelling.
While it is a common, if disgusting, trait of anti-Israelis to not even mention the monstrous attack by Hamas that started this war – an attack that involved the most gruesome murders, burnings-alive, mass rapes, mutilations, kidnappings, and the unceasing attacks on Israeli civilians by seven fronts ever since (including thousands of missiles, attack drones and more from Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and so on) – Israel is not as far as has been proved committing war crimes in Gaza. In fact, most unbiased experts seem to attest that the balance of evidence is that they aren’t. They are, however, taking greater precautions to avoid as far as possible the loss of innocent civilian life than pretty much any army in history. Israel is under existential attack, orchestrated by Iran, including financial deals between Iran and South Africa to co-opt the SA foreign ministry to do Iran’s bidding at the ICJ, and Israelis and indeed Jews are prevented from pursuing their livelihoods abroad (including also the Jewish cricket captain in South Africa who was let go from the national team also for ‘safety’ reasons)? Despicable.
Meanwhile, she’s not singing and the country shouldn’t cancel.
Artists, musicians and actors should not be boycotted or cancelled because of their ethnicity or nationality.
Depends on whether they insert shoe leather into their mouths in support of for instance, Vladimir Putin, or Hamas.
I heard Hagar Sharvit last year in Jlm, singing Schubert with Graham Johnson. A beautiful singer from every aspect. The Omanis don’t know what they’re missing. I hope this cancelation works for her like Verrett’s nix in Houston.
Do you remember when Trump wanted to ban all visas for people from Muslim countries?
The exchange rate in the current war for Israeli vs. Palestinian deaths is about 25 to 1. At the beginning of the latest war, I was guessing it would be about 15 to 1, but now am hoping it won’t go past 35 to 1. By the time the possible coming expulsions from Gaza are over, and the hardships they cause, the exchange rate could rise far higher. God knows the number.
Do these exchange rates tell us something about ourselves? Will this exchange rate secure Israel’s future? Or will it create new generations of enmity and hatred on both sides, such as we see with the banning of this singer because she is Jewish? War is not the solution for the problems, it is the cause of the problems.
Thank you for an intelligent and meaningful comment.
Why would the Genoa Opera House have to risk a business or loose money when they can avoid trouble simply by hiring a native English speaker? This Israeli mezzo unfortunately today is nothing more than a disposable liability… no one’s fault …