Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino is directing a new production of John Adams's opera 'The Death of Klinghoffer' in Florence, a work that has drawn controversy since its 1991 debut. The opera depicts the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian militants and the murder of Jewish American passenger Leon Klinghoffer. Past productions, including one at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014, faced protests and accusations that the work was antisemitic or sympathetic to the attackers.

Guadagnino, who has long incorporated Adams's music into his films, described the opera as a masterpiece whose artistic power has been overshadowed by political debate. He said earlier attempts to stage it in northern Europe were abandoned because of concerns over controversy, but the Maggio Musicale Theater in Florence agreed to mount the production. Guadagnino argues that the music and libretto should be considered major artistic achievements independent of the polemics.

His staging emphasizes universal themes of human suffering and the vulnerability of the body, featuring choreography by Ella Rothschild and striking visual elements, including a sculptural figure that is torn apart during a key aria. Conductor Lawrence Renes said the production seeks to highlight the opera's humane message and what unites people rather than what divides them. Guadagnino hopes the Florence premiere will help restore the opera to the stage as a work relevant to the present moment.