>"Who'll put the brakes on Regie-Theater?"
>(Abendzeitung, February 19, 2006)
>
>Translated by Celia Sgroi
>
>...
>
>
>AZ: Do you still go to the opera?
>
>DFD: Rarely. I am no longer young, and my ideas about how to
>communicate the meaning and purpose of an artwork are different from
>those of most directors. Today, people promote themselves and put
>their own purposes in the foreground. It was different in our time. We
>placed the work ahead of ourselves. I hope it's still possible to turn
>things around but the younger members of the audience don't have these
>standards.

Bravo FiDi! These abominations have afflicted theater and opera
far too long. I see that this interview occurred long before the
recent Magic Flute debacle, sadly to no obvious effect.

Can you imagine someone in the 18th century saying, "Hey,
Wolfie. Would it be o. k. to use the severed head of Mohammed and a
couple of other guys in the last act?"

Charlie