It´s not Götterdämmerung til the fat Isha sings

[Alex Jacobowitz <alexbjacobowitz...>]

B"H Munich

Heck.

Why not.

Anyone remember the brouhaha 
a few years back? Wagner was scheduled as an
encore at a subscription concert for the Israel
Philharmonic, which was, for most Israelis at least,
breaking a form of taboo. The international
outcry on both sides of the issue was immense.

Now, you could imagine subscribers
could have quietly left if they didn´t appreciate
Wagner. But it became a cause celebre, a matter
of high principle in this case.
One of the problems was the dictatorial way
in which the conductor decided which music
will live and which shall die. In Israel, at least.

Likewise, the rabbis could have excused themselves
from hearing a woman´s voice. Or the woman could
have excused herself from violating a religious
precept. Compromises are found throughout Judaism,
and occasionally in Jewish music groups too, from
what I hear.

Loosening up the firing range with charges of
anti-Semitism, feminist focus groups, mentions of
neo-Nazis, Wagner, etc... was this really the best
way? Pondering our Nibelungen?

Folks? Could we have handled this a bit better?
Can we do it better next time?

Love, peace and quiet,

Alex Jacobowitz

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com

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