BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary's State Opera says German conductor Cristoph von Dohnanyi has canceled a pair of appearances to protest the appointment of a theater director linked to far-right groups.
Dohnanyi said in a letter released Friday by the Hungarian State Opera that he does not want to "appear in a city whose mayor entrusted the direction of a theater to two known, extreme right-wing anti-Semites."
Mayor Istvan Tarlos' recent appointment of Gyorgy Dorner was widely criticized by Jewish organizations, as well as a large group of directors of other Budapest theaters.
Dorner has named Istvan Csurka, a playwright and former lawmaker known for anti-Semitic speeches and articles, as his deputy.
The Opera said it was considering suing Dohnanyi for compensation.
