The hills come alive
The week's news at a glance.
Vienna
The Sound of Music was performed onstage in Austria this week for the first time ever. The classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical has long inspired tourists to visit Austria. But Austrians themselves have never embraced the story of the singing Von Trapp family, which fled Austria to escape from the Nazis. The famous film version, starring Julie Andrews, was never released in Austria and didn’t even play on television until a few years ago. Rudolf Berger, director of the Volksoper, the Vienna opera house that is staging a German translation of the work, said Austrians had been cool to The Sound of Music because they didn’t like to be reminded of their country’s collaboration with the Nazis. Many Austrians also feel that the story stereotypes them as yodeling goatherds in lederhosen. But Berger said the new production showed that the musical could be staged “without the Alpine kitsch trimmings.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Jeffrey Epstein's secrets
Feature Six years after his death, conspiracy theories still swirl around the sex trafficker. Why?
-
Voting: Trump's ominous war on mail ballots
Feature Donald Trump wants to sign an executive order banning mail-in ballots for the 2026 midterms
-
School phone bans: Why they're spreading
Feature 17 states are imposing all-day phone bans in schools