ROYAL BALLET AND OPERA CANCELS TOSCA IN ISRAEL AFTER STAFF BACKFASH. E L'ORO DIPINTO. EL GRECO E LA PITTURA TRA CRETA E VENEZIA. PALAZZO DUCALE

 

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Royal Ballet and Opera cancels ‘Tosca’ production in Israel after staff backlash

4 August 2025, 16:42 | Updated: 4 August 2025, 16:49

The Royal Ballet and Opera’s Tel Aviv production of ‘Tosca’ has been cancelled, after an open letter from RBO staff. Picture: Getty

By Lucy Hicks Beach

@lucyshhb

The production at The Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv will not go ahead, after 182 members of staff at RBO signed an open letter to management.

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The Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) has pulled its 2026 production of Puccini’s Tosca in Israel following backlash from staff.

This comes after Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the RBO, said the company was “reviewing its internal protocols” following an onstage demonstration in which a dancer unveiled a Palestinian flag during a curtain call at the Royal Opera House.

Artists for Palestine UK (APUK) said it saw an email from Beard sent to staff that read: “We have made the decision that our new production of Tosca will not be going to Israel.” The network described the move as a ‘welcome breakthrough.’

The Israeli National Opera website has now dropped its reference to the Royal Opera House.

Read more: On-stage tussle as cast member displays Palestinian flag at Royal Opera House

Cast member displays Palestinian flag on stage at Royal Opera House. Picture: Twitter / Syd Cassimaty (@sydcas)

On 19 July, dancer Danni Perry held up a Palestinian flag during the final curtain call of Verdi’s Il trovatore. The RBO’s director of music Oliver Mears attempted to tug the flag off them, and reportedly told Perry they would never work at the opera house again.

Following the event, more than 180 members of the Royal Ballet and Opera, including artists, technicians and administrative departments, penned an open letter expressing "deep concern" about their company’s decision-making regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The Guardian reported that 40 signatories signed with their names while the others signed anonymously for fear of reprisals.

The letter also called for Mears “to be held accountable for his public display of aggression.” It continued that the incident, “far from being a neutral administrative intervention, was itself a loud political statement. It sent a clear message that any visible solidarity with Palestine would be met with hostility.”

The letter also touched on the RBO’s recent hiring out of its production of Puccini’s Turandot to the Israeli National Opera. “The decision cannot be viewed as neutral,” it stated, continuing that the partnership means that the RBO “is clearly making a strong political statement.”

The letter also drew comparison with the RBO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, praising the institution for its ‘swift’ and ‘decisive’ action: “We organised Concerts for Ukraine, we played the Ukrainian national anthem before performances, and we publicly displayed the Ukrainian flag as a gesture of solidarity with its people.

“We understood then that silence was unacceptable. Why is it different now?”

Read more: Russian maestro Vladimir Jurowski joins classical stars in high-profile ‘Stop the War’ open letter

Metropolitan Opera perform national anthem of Ukraine

Beard responded to the letter by saying he is “appalled by the crisis in Gaza and recognise the deep emotional impact this has had across our community and wider society.”

“On this issue, we acknowledge and respect the full range of views held by our staff, artists and audiences.

“The events at the curtain call on 19 July were without precedent. We have reflected carefully and reviewed our internal protocols.

“We always endeavour to act with integrity and compassion. We want our stage to remain a space for shared cultural appreciation, free from individual political statements.

“Our support for Ukraine was aligned with the global consensus at the time. As the world’s geopolitics have become more complex, our stance has changed to ensure that our actions reflect our purpose and values,” Beard added.

A spokesperson for Artists for Palestine UK said: “This is a welcome breakthrough for institutional accountability—and a victory for grassroots organizing.

“Across the cultural sector too many institutions, faced with genocide, have opted for silence or worse. The RBO staff’s open letter is an essential ethical uprising against this refusal to speak out.”

MOSTRA AL PALAZZO DUCALE: L´ORO DIPINTO

Dal 30 aprile al 29 settembre 2025 Venezia, Palazzo Ducale – Appartamento del Doge A cura di Chiara Squarcina, Katerina Dellaporta, Andrea Bellieni

Un filo dorato unisce le vicende storiche, artistiche, gli equilibri diplomatici e la devozione nel Mediterraneo lungo la rotta tra Venezia e Creta, la Candia dal XIII secolo, perla dello Stato da Mar della Serenissima.

 L’oro dipinto, che fa risplendere di luce spirituale le icone, è il protagonista della mostra e fa da sfondo ad una lunga storia di intense relazioni pittoriche tra due isole. Dopo la Caduta di Costantinopoli (1453) Candia diventa il più importante polo artistico per l’antica tradizione bizantina, alla quale si richiamano fedelmente oltre cento botteghe di “madoneri”, soprattutto autori di immagini devozionali popolari.

Parallelamente Venezia – come una nuova Bisanzio – vede l’arrivo di un numero sempre maggiore di opere e di artisti dall’isola dell’Egeo: “pittori iconografi” in viaggio o immigrati tra Creta, le isole dello Ionio e la capitale.

Il risultato fu l’incontro e l’originale sintesi tra la nativa impronta aulica bizantina – già una delle anime essenziali della stessa tradizione veneziana – e il linguaggio figurativo occidentale, prima tardogotico, poi rinascimentale, umano-centrico, naturalistico e vivace. Una relazione fortunata si intreccia senza mai esaurirsi, dall’aureo rinascimento veneto fra Quattro e Cinquecento fino alle soglie dell’Ottocento, con momenti di particolare e felice unione.

 Le sette sezioni della mostra scandiscono e illustrano cronologicamente tale singolare percorso pittorico; al centro dell’avvincente racconto di storia e di pittura si colloca il suo rappresentante più celebre e stravagante: Dominikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco (1541-1614), che nella natia Creta muove i primi passi nell’educazione alla tradizione postbizantina per giungere a Venezia intorno al 1567. 

Completa l’esposizione un focus dedicato all’icona, indagata nei suoi aspetti materiali e tecnico-esecutivi: un essenziale contributo conoscitivo per il visitatore realizzato in collaborazione con l’Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – CHNet Cultural Heritage Network.

 La mostra rappresenta l’impegno di cooperazione internazionale tra Fondazione MUVE, Repubblica di Grecia e altri importanti Musei e collezioni – anche private – di Grecia, Italia ed Europa. 

Essenziale è stato l’apporto del Ministero della Cultura della Repubblica di Grecia, assieme ad istituti come il Museo Bizantino e Cristiano di Atene, maggiore prestatore di opere, la National Gallery di Atene e l’Istituto Ellenico di studi Bizantini e Postbizantini di Venezia. Speciale contributo è giunto dalla Città di Heraklion e dall’Arcidiocesi di Creta.

https://palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/it/mostre/mostre-in-corso/loro-dipinto-