(MENAFN- Arab Times) Iran has barred famed conductor Daniel Barenboim from entering the Islamic republic because of his Israeli citizenship, thwarting his plan to lead a performance in Tehran, media reported Sunday. Barenboim, the 72-year-old general music director of the Berlin State Opera House, said Thursday he was in talks with Iran about a concert, in what would have been a major example of cultural diplomacy.
But an Iranian culture ministry spokesman, Hossein Noushabadi, said an investigation meant Barenboim could not enter the country for "security reasons", though the Berlin orchestra was welcome. "We have no problem with the German orchestra coming to Iran, but we are opposed to the person leading that group," Noushabadi said, quoted by news agency ISNA. "He has multiple nationalities and one of them is Israeli. For security reasons and to prevent issues following the entry of certain people into Iran, we stopped it."
Barenboim also holds Argentinian and Palestinian citizenship. "Our reviews revealed that the conductor has nationality and identity dependence to Israel, was raised in Israel and his parents have also lived there," Noushabadi added. "So the suspicion of him being related to that country, which is illegitimate to us, was there." Iran does not recognise Israel as a state, usually referring to its leaders as "the Zionist regime".
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is expected in October to travel to Tehran following a July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, had agreed to back the concert. Steinmeier did so because he "supports Daniel Barenboim's dedication to making music accessible to all people, irrespective of national, religious or ethnic boundaries," a statement said.
Israel has been the world's most vocal opponent of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany. Barenboim's plans had drawn an angry response from Israel, whose Culture Minister Miri Regev said she intended to send a letter of protest to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asking her to block the concert.
She accused Barenboim - who founded a groundbreaking youth orchestra called the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999 bringing together Israeli, Egyptian, Iranian, Jordanian, Lebanese and Palestinian musicians - of "using culture as a platform for his anti-Israel political views."
He is also controversial in Israel for his efforts to have the music of Richard Wagner, the German composer adored by Adolf Hitler, performed in the Jewish state. The prominent Jewish rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, also hit out at the concert plans.
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LOS ANGELES: Multihyphenate Lindsey Rosin and her producing partner Jordan Ross made noise this summer with the success of their legit adaptation of the cult-fave movie "Cruel Intentions." On Sunday night, the pair hope to strike again with their latest nostalgic endeavor, "The Unauthorized OC Musical."
The tuner, inspired by the teen-centric soap that ran on Fox from 2003 to 2007, is set to premiere as a one-night only event at Hollywood's Montalban Theater, where it broke a house record for selling out within 15 minutes.
"I think in general, I feel like a child of the '90s," Rosin says of her affinity for nostalgic projects like "Cruel Intentions" and "The O.C." She adds, "That's a time that will always be special to me and obviously, a lot of people my age. I like to say my spirit animal is a teenage girl and I feel that more strongly as time goes on."
While juggling the productions of "Cruel Intentions" and "The Unauthorized OC," musical, the 30-year-old writer-producer-director has been busy setting up television projects in development and writing a novel for Simon and Schuster's Simon Pulse YA imprint. And Rosin and Ross have ambition to expand the musical repertoire, under their Sucker Love Productions banner. (The company name comes from a lyric in the "Cruel Intentions" film, which is used as the opening line in the musical.)
"We're jokingly calling it 'The Syndication Playlist,'" Rosin explains of the pair's plans to develop more stage shows, following "The OC." "We're hoping this is the first installment. Our idea would be to turn this idea into a series - do one-night-only events of our favorite shows."
"Cruel Intentions" ran for 38 sold-out performances at L.A.'s Rockwell Table & Stage, and even piqued the interest of the film's original stars, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. The tuner is likely to continue on in some form in New York or Los Angeles in the near future.
"The OC" musical has no connection to the television production. In the case of "Cruel Intentions," the original film's writer-director Roger Kumble quickly gave his blessing after attending the show and since has been in close contact with the duo.
With "Unauthorized OC," Rosin and Ross felt the pressure of mounting a one-night-only event for an audience of nearly 1,000. "There have been challenges just upgrading to a 1,000-person venue. 'Cruel Intentions' was only 150 people. That's one logistical huge difference," Rosin says.
"The Unauthorized OC Musical" cast. Photo courtesy of Alex Dean. The daughter of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Dawson's Creek" exec producer Charles Rosin, Rosin knows how fortunate they are to get their musical projects off the ground.
"My parents are TV writers so I know what comes up must go down, so I'm just trying to just enjoy the ride," she says. "A lot of professions are like a ladder trying to break into Hollywood is like a catapult where you sit in the same spot for along time and wait for someone to pull the string. So right now, this is sort of like flying."
Even with her hectic schedule, Rosin penned her first-ever novel, slated to hit shelves next summer. "Cherry" is described as a female spin on the "American Pie" movies. The novel, her budding TV work and the success of her stage efforts have made for a surreal summer for Rosin. "This is beyond my wildest imaginations," Rosin says. "And as a writer, I think I have a pretty good imagination." Rosin is repped by ICM, Foundry Literary + Media, Underground, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown.
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