Wagner's Jews

Nineteenth century German composer Richard Wagner changed the face of western music forever. He was also one of most hateful people who ever lived. Super egotistical, selfish, a betrayer of friends, and all around a-hole, liar, and jerk. He wrote some truly despicable and vile anti-Semitic essays – spittle spewing rants - that crossed over into the delusional. Some 80 years or so later, these writings were adopted by Hitler and the Nazis and helped propel their ruthless death camps. Yet, Wagner had many rich supporters and admirers, many of them Jewish. He had Jewish musicians and conductors working for him, some who considered Wagner their mentor. Who were they? Why did they work for him or give him money? This documentary digs into the stories of Carl Tausig, a piano prodigy who was 16 when Wagner mentored him; Joseph Rubinstein, pianist and composer, and, most tragically, Herman Levy, a proud and accomplished conductor, the chief conductor of the Munich Orchestra, who was bullied and belittled by Wagner yet conducted the first performances of the Ring Cycle and Parsifal. This documentary delves into that history and brings in the contemporary debate of whether Wagner's music should be banned in Israel. The question constantly comes up: can we – should we – separate the person from the art that person creates. Wagner is the ultimate test of this question. I saw this 50-minute feature at the Jewish Film Festival in San Diego. At the end of the film there was a 20-minute Q&A with David Amos, conductor, lecturer, and music historian about the issues raised in the film. A very civil and reasonable discussion ensued. A powerful experience.