Posted on 08/19/2011 12:49:49 PM PDT by mojito
Richard Wagner, the most repugnant of musical nationalists, has become an unlikely poster child for culturally progressive Israelis. The recurring controversy over the public performance of work by the Nazi Party’s favorite composer erupted again in late July when the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, led by the Austrian conductor Roberto Paternostro, performed a much-publicized Wagner program at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, Wagner’s self-erected shrine and a pillar of the Nazi movement well before Hitler took power. (Paternostro received a standing ovation from the largely German audience, which understandably liked the idea of Jews playing Wagner.) Morbid ethnocentrism with overtones of nationalist extremism is acceptable to the Israeli left, it seems, as long as it isn’t Jewish.
Every so often a prominent musician makes a point of sneaking Wagner into a public concert in Israel. Zubin Mehta, the Indian-born conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, played a Wagner excerpt as an encore to a 1981 concert; Daniel Barenboim, conducting a German ensemble, did it again at the 2001 Jerusalem Festival. And in each case public opprobrium put Wagner’s scores back on the shelf. At the Bayreuth concert, some of the Israeli musicians explained that they never would perform Wagner in Israel but felt free to do so elsewhere. Performance of Wagner’s music is unofficially—but effectively—banned in Israel. But should it be? Mark Twain quipped that Wagner’s music is better than it sounds. By the same token, banning Wagner’s music is a better idea than it sounds. Suppressing the performance of important musical works is not a small matter, though, and deserves careful thought rather than emotional reflex.
(Excerpt) Read more at tabletmag.com ...
If you can find a copy, Leon Uris’ “Armageddon” is worth readingf. A novel of the American occupation of Germany just after WW II, Uris does a superb job of peeling back the entrenched layers of Nazism in the German soul and psyche. The majority of the references are solidly factual. He really goes after the German people’s adoration of Wagner..
Wagner is dead.
Hitler is dead.
I like Wagner, I like Israel and I hate Hitler.
It’s only music, make up your own back story if you wish.
I’ve always been of the opinion that you should separate the politial opinions of old composers and actors and authors from their works. At certain times in history, certain ideas held sway. I bet if you interviewed pretty much any composer or artist from the 14th Century about their views on the equality of Christians and Jews, or Whites and Blacks, you’d get opinions that would be considered flat out racist and anti-Semetic today. They might even be more extreme than the KKK (as in, “all Jews should be killed”). The issue with Wagner is that he was born in an age when those views could be broadly publicized. And he happened to be a Hitler favorite. The fact that he was a Nazi favorite is not his fault. I’m not Jewish so I don’t have a vote in the matter but my opinion is that any religious or ethnic or racial groups should play any music or put on any play or read any book no matter what the political opinions of the creator were.
I like Wagner!
I’ve always been of the opinion that you should separate the politial opinions of old composers and actors and authors from their works. At certain times in history, certain ideas held sway. I bet if you interviewed pretty much any composer or artist from the 14th Century about their views on the equality of Christians and Jews, or Whites and Blacks, you’d get opinions that would be considered flat out racist and anti-Semetic today. They might even be more extreme than the KKK (as in, “all Jews should be killed”). The issue with Wagner is that he was born in an age when those views could be broadly publicized. And he happened to be a Hitler favorite. The fact that he was a Nazi favorite is not his fault. I’m not Jewish so I don’t have a vote in the matter but my opinion is that any religious or ethnic or racial groups should play any music or put on any play or read any book no matter what the political opinions of the creator were.
well put...
well put...
well put...
Are Volkswagens not sold in Israel?
“but he did more than anyone else to mold the culture in which Nazism flourished”
Thats debateable. Scads of books published by all manner of
academics and cranks seem to have done more of that than
Wagners music which merely reflects the 19th emerging
German nationalism and interest in the old mythology.
Is everything that Hitler liked a mold of anti semitic
culture? Sounds like a stretch to me.
They should ban Wagner then have a huge rally where they burn books written by Germans. What a GREAT idea!
ML/NJ
Ping.
I have a bio of Wagner wherein the the author basically says: “Yes, Hitler was a very bad guy but that Wagner!” I’m exaggerating, of course, but it always makes me laugh. But what are you going to do? The music is glorious.
Wagner isn't banned in Israel; you can buy his music in any CD store and play it at home. Israeli orchestras do not publicly perform Wagner's music because, whenever they have announced that they would, there were public protests; but there is no legal ban on their doing so. (And, as the article notes, at least twice Israeli orchestras DID publicly perform Wagner's music, albeit as unpublicized encores, and suffered no repercussions.)
Banning Wagner is just as stupid as the Nazis ban on Offenbach, Mahler, Arnold Schönberg, and Mendelssohn.
Wagner died in 1883.
She’s sweet on Wagner,
I think she’d die for Beethoven.
She loves the way Puccini lays down a tune
and Verdi’s always creepin’ from her room.
-ELO Rockaria
Wagner wrote hideous pamphlets against the Jews. He was one bad guy; even his family disliked him. That’s a major problem with his legacy and will always be with him. Sorta like Hanoi Jane - only with talent!
Uris really gave it to the Germans in the 1960s! I loved his books. Of course, Exodus being my very favorite.
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