Wagner’s Music Still Forbidden in Israel
Tel Aviv University announced Monday that it would not permit a scheduled Wagner concert to take place on its campus, after it had evoked angry protests.
In a letter to Attorney Yonathan Livni, who had submitted the request to hire the campus’ Smolarz Auditorium for the event on June 18, the university denied the request, accusing him of deliberately concealing the intention to perform Richard Wagner’s works. The university also claimed that Livni did not mention the name of the organization he represented.
Livni, the founder of the Israel Wagner Society, asked the university last week to hold a concert, conducted by Asher Fisch, in the auditorium, making no mention of planning to perform Richard Wagner’s works, the university spokesman said.
“You deliberately concealed this basic fact from us…We received angry protests calling to call off the controversial event…[which] would deeply offend the Israeli public in general and Holocaust survivors in particular,” he said.
Wagner, who espoused anti-Semitic views during his lifetime, was also Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer. Attempts to perform Wagner in Israel over the past 30 years have always generated heated controversy.
Babushka loves Wagner’s music and will continue to listen!
How many Jews did Wagner kill?
Which of Wagner’s musical works explicitly portray Jews as bad people, or at all?
“Wagner, who espoused anti-Semitic views during his lifetime” this is not expressed in his music so who cares? Was Wagner significantly more anti-Semitic than other prominent composers of that period? OK maybe he was more anti-Semitic than Mendelssohn, but what about Brahms? Franz Liszt? Johann Sebastian Bach? Georg Frederich Handel? You can probably find more anti-Semitic stuff in the scores of Bach and Handel (they composed predominantly church music) but their music isn’t banned in Israel.
Wagner was not a Nazi. Wagner did not kill any Jews. So please stop this silliness.
