A stagehand sentenced for the fall of a (false) rock in the middle of the opera

The case of the rock at the Toulouse opera house is absolutely unique.

It comes down to a big fright, passed for an offbeat joke to the public gathered on January 28, 2015 for the premiere

of Wagner's

at the Théâtre du Capitole.

In the final scene, a boulder in the background, weighing 200 kg all the same, must symbolically descend and come to cover Tristan crushed with grief, in this case the American tenor Robert Dean Smith.

Except that the rock continues its descent, forcing the artist to a roll and roll to narrowly avoid it.

Investigations into this incident, which could have been bloody, led to a machinist.

For the investigators, this municipal employee in delicacy with his colleagues would have spent the day before the performance to modify the computer program governing the movements of the decor.

Man has always denied this sabotage.

The defendant always denied

But he still found himself on Thursday before the Toulouse Criminal Court.

According to

of the hearing, he once again and virulently dismissed all responsibility, his lawyer Alexandre Martin directing the suspicions on his ex-teammates.

Without success.

As a fall of the curtain, the court sentenced the machinist to eight months in prison.

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• Sabotage

• Toulouse

• Investigation

• Opera

• Justice