Protests and threats mark opening night of terrorism tale at New York's Metropolitan Opera

Opera-goers had to endure chants of "shame, shame" as they arrived for opening night at the Metropolitan Opera house in New York on Monday evening amid a heavy police presence and a firestorm of protests over a controversial new show.

Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, and ex-governor David Paterson led the demonstrators denouncing the staging of "The Death of Klinghoffer", an operatic take on the 1985 murder of a wheelchair-bound Jewish American by Palestinian terrorists in the Mediterranean.

Outside the opera house, police blocked off nearby streets, while inside the venerable institution plain-clothes officers were deployed to stem a string of heckling ticket-holders.

Nearly 100 protestors sat in wheelchairs carrying placards bearing messages such as "The Met glorifies terrorism" and "We are Leon Klinghoffer", the name of the elderly businessman who was murdered and thrown off the Achille Lauro cruise ship by Palestinian attackers.

"This work is a distortion of history," said Mr Giuliani, who noted that he was a patron of the Met and had listened several times to the libretto. "It is a factually inaccurate and incredibly damaging piece."

The 1991 work by John Adams, one of America's most celebrated composers, has been accused by critics of describing the outrage from the terrorists perspective and promoting anti-Semitism.

In one much-quoted aria, a character declares: "You are always complaining of your suffering, but wherever poor men are gathered, they can find Jews getting fat."

A handful of demonstrators kept up the protest inside the opera house.

A section of the prologue, the Chorus of the exiled Palestinians, was met by its own chorus of boos followed by angry cries of "shut up" and then "make me".

One audience member chanted: "The murder of Klinghoffer will never be forgiven."

It was met by a shouted response: "No-one's trying to forgive anything here."

Peter Gelb, the Metropolitan's director, said that protestors had sent threatening emails to performers and defended the opera as artistic freedom of expression. "See it, then decide," declares the company's website.

A spokesman said: "The fact that Klinghoffer grapples with the complexities of an unconscionable real-life act of violence does not mean it should not be performed.

"The rumours and inaccuracies about the opera and its presentation at the Met are part of a campaign to have it suppressed. Klinghoffer is neither anti-Semitic nor does it glorify terrorism. The Met will not bow to this pressure.

"As a cultural institution, we unwaveringly support the freedom of artists to create responsible work that addresses difficult contemporary topics. We firmly believe that artistic explorations of politically charged subjects should be presented to the public without fear of censorship."

But among the large Jewish contingent in the protest rally, such observations were abruptly and angrily dismissed.

"This opera glorifies, condones and makes excuses for terrorism," said Hillary Barr, a Manhattan nurse and founder of a group called Mothers Against Terrorism.

"It sends a message to terrorists that if they commit a murder, they will be made the stars of a show right here in New York City."