Barenboim and Wagner

[Stephen M. Stowe, M.D. <ststowe...>]

B"H

I thought that the following stories and editorials from the Israeli
Press make important reading.  

I really think that Barenboim acted improperly.  If he felt strongly
that Wagner should have been played then he should have refused to
conduct unless he could chose the program.  To do what he did, in my
opinion,  damages art.

I wonder what others think.


Steve Stowe



************************************************
Barenboim breaks the Wagner taboo

By Zipi Shohat, Gideon Alon and Dalia Shehori
Ha'aretz Correspondents and Agencies Ha'aretz 9 July 2001

Having agreed not to play music by Hitler's favorite composer at the
Israel
Festival, renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim did just that Saturday
night,
breaking a long-held taboo in Israel and receiving a standing ovation
from
most of the audience, but angry shouts from a vocal minority.

Appearing in Jerusalem, Barenboim and the Berlin Statskapelle played
music
from Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde." Music from the opera
was
featured in the original program, but after protests from Holocaust
survivors and pressure from politicians, the management asked Barenboim
to
choose an alternative program.

At the end of Saturday's concert Barenboim asked the audience if they
wanted
him to play the Wagner piece after all. Most of them responded with loud
applause, but a few angrily protested, shouting "fascist," and "go
home."

Barenboim continued the dialogue with the audience, appealing to the
protesters to let the majority hear what they wish. "This is my personal
encore to them," he said. "You can be angry with me, but please don't be
angry with the orchestra or the festival management."

After a bitter argument, in which those protesting were asked by some of
the
audience to leave the hall, Barenboim began conducting the piece. As the
orchestra began playing, the protesters banged doors, but the
interruptions
ceased after a few minutes and the playing of the work was completed
without
further mishap. At the end of the performance, Barenboim received
rousing
applause.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that although he is a music
lover, he thinks it best if Wagner is not played in Israel "for one
reason -
there are a lot of people here for whom this is difficult, and it could
be
that this was too soon."

President Moshe Katsav, who had been one of the leading proponents of
getting Wagner taken off the program, said that he was "sorry that the
official bodies and institutes who made the decisions had been
bypassed." He
said that he was not interfering in artistic freedom, but rather taking
into
account the feelings of many Holocaust survivors.
************

MUSICAL SNEAK ATTACK CONDEMNED
The "sneak attack" pulled by Berlin conductor Daniel Barenboim continues
to 
draw criticism.  Although he had earlier agreed to abide by the Israel 
Festival management's decision not to play Richard Wagner's music, he 
turned to the audience at the end of his last concert this past Saturday 
night, and said, "The concert is over; I will now play Wagner.  Whoever 
wants to, may leave."  Several people objected, but were drowned out by
the 
yells of others.  A few dozen people walked out, including MK Dan
Meridor, 
but the vast majority - including State Attorney Edna Arbel and Supreme 
Court Justice Dorit Beinish - remained.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center called upon the Israeli music community to 
boycott Barenboim for what it called his "cultural rape" of the Israeli 
public.  Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said that Barenboim had "exploited
the 
stage," and that his decision was "arrogant, uncultured, and 
unacceptable...  It's not his job to determine whether the State of
Israel 
decides to allow Wagner to be heard or not."  Wagner was famous for his 
anti-Semitism, and the Nazis later adopted his music and ideology as 
theirs.  Playing his music in public has been forbidden in Israel since
the 
establishment of the State, as an "offense to the sensibilities" of much
of 
the public.

*******************
Ma'ariv, in its second editorial, notes that conductor Daniel
Barenboim "succeeded in getting Wagner into the Israel Festival
through the back door, in contravention of a decision by the
festival's institutions, and after the Knesset urged against
playing works by the composer who served as a source of
inspiration for the Nazi ideology." The editors note, "The debate
over playing Wagner - replete with gut feelings, myths, symbols
and, occasionally, boorishness - in Israel has gone on for
decades already," and avers that "While many believe the ban on
the musical genius's works must come to an end, it is highly
doubtful if the way to decide such a heavy and charged
controversy is by pulling a musical fast one."

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+