Richard Wagner performance canceled in Israel amid dispute

A planned performance of the music of Richard Wagner in Israel has been abruptly canceled following an apparent disagreement between the presenter and Tel Aviv University, which was supposed to host the event.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports the officials at the university pulled the plug on the performance, contending the Israel Wagner Society concealed the fact it would have featured the music of Wagner.

Officials at the university also contended people have expressed anger over the planned performance.

The June 18 event was supposed to have been an academic symposium at Tel Aviv University devoted to Wagner, conductor Arturo Toscanini and Theodor Herzl, the Zionist leader. The symposium, organized by the Israel Wagner Society, was to have included a concert portion of music by Wagner.

In Israel, performing Wagner has long been considered taboo because of the composer’s anti-Semitic personal views. Wagner was also one of the favorite composers of Adolf Hitler.

Haaretz reports one of the people to protest the planned event was Uri Chanoch, the deputy chairman of the Holocaust Survivors Center.

The event was intended to be a privately funded symposium, according to the newspaper.

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