Mastodon Wagner Society of Israel to break 74 year boycott against Wagner's works. - The Wagnerian

Wagner Society of Israel to break 74 year boycott against Wagner's works.

Written By The Wagnerian on Wednesday 30 May 2012 | 8:33:00 pm

For those that don't follow The Wagnerian on Twitter or Facebook: the Wagner Society of Israel (yes, there is such a thing although only founded two years or so ago ) will break the boycott of Wagner's music that has been in place in Israel since 1938, when the Eretz Yisrael Symphony Orchestra stopped performing his music. They will circumnavigate the boycott (which is not an official ban)  by the use of a private orchestra put together especially for the event


According to HAARETZ, the performance will be part of a program that includes "...
conductor Asher Fisch (who) will discuss the influence Wagner's opera "Tannhauser" had in inspiring Herzl during his first draft of his tract "The Jewish State," and the way the anti-Fascist Toscanini used Wagner's work to give expression to his humanistic outlook.

Dr. Meir Stern and musicologist Prof. Jehoash Hirshberg will also lecture on various musical, textual and cultural aspects of Wagner's works."

For the full article visit HAARETZ

However, it should be noted that for anyone that follows Wagner's works closely, this announcement might not be such a surprise. When the Wagner Society of Israel was formed in 2010 the head of the society Attorney Yonatan Livni said the following:

"It's time to allow those who desire to hear Wagner's music in Israel to be able to do so".

"Karl Orff and even Richard Strauss, who was president of the Reich's State Music Bureau, are played in Israel. So why is it prohibited to play Wagner, who died years before the Nazis came to power? This boycott no longer makes sense."

He went on: "It's true that he was a huge anti-Semite, however we are not talking about his speeches, but about the music he wrote as a great composer."

To read the full interview go here