On the Footsteps of Goethe in Sicily

On April 2nd 1787 Wolfgang von Goethe arrived in Palermo during a journey that lasted forty days which he then described in Italian Journey Peter Stein a stage and opera director retraces the footsteps of the German poet in the company of a film crew In Sicily Goethe sought and found classicism and so does Stein as he travels to the origins of European culture After his impressive production of Faust the high point of Steins reflections on Goethe this new journey helps the director compare late18thcentury Sicily to todays showing unexpected differences and surprising similarities