Talia Banon Tsur in Haaretz: ‘Unlike previous attempts to bring Wagner to Israel, there was no commotion this time – perhaps to the organizers' chagrin. When soprano Tamara Nashri and pianist Alexander Ivanov bowed at the end of the first aria, the small audience politely applauded.’

And: ‘Wagner (…) was Hitler's favorite musician (although the Führer never lived at the same time as the composer, as many mistakenly believe). Yet Wagner was also one of the favorite composers of Zionist founding father Theodor Herzl, who listened to "Tannhäuser" while writing "The Jewish State." That same opera, incidentally, also opened the Second World Zionist Congress in Basel.’

Also: ‘"Don't be confused by those who tell you that you have to choose a side," he [Milo Rau] wrote in the letter. "It may be a cliché, but humanity has only one side.”’

Herzl and Wagner. Humanity and the pious artists.

(a sf 2220)