Israeli Opera Says No to Wagner Again

By Haaretz April 8, 2012

The Israeli Opera has asked a U.K.-based Israeli choreographer to remove an excerpt of a Richard Wagner opera from the soundtrack of her show, which will be showcased in Tel Aviv next month.

Israeli Opera director Hanna Munitz has asked Jasmin Vardimon to replace the overture of Richard Wagner’s “Tannhauser,” which features in the opening scene of her show “7734,” with another musical piece. Wagner’s music has been boycotted in Israel for decades because of the 19th-century German composer’s anti-Semitic worldview and his descendants’ ties to the Nazi party.

“After I was invited to perform in Israel I was told that I wouldn’t be able to include the Wagner piece,” Vardimon told Haaretz, in a phone interview from London. She said her eventual decision to comply with the Israeli Opera’s request wasn’t easy. “I debated the issue for a long time, and consulted many people whose opinions I appreciate. I’ve decided to do it out of respect for the Israeli audience.”

Munitz says she is determined to keep Wagner’s music off the Israeli Opera stage for as long as she is in office.

In 1998, she organized a debate to establish whether, more than half a century after the end of the Second World War, the Israeli audience would be more open to Wagner’s music, which is regarded as one of the peaks of 19th-century opera. “People cried and wept,” she said. “The debate was the most emotionally charged event I’ve ever attended. I then decided that, as long as I’m in this job, it won’t happen. I’m not here to inflict misery on anyone.”

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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