In the End, Israeli Fete Has Wagner

Having agreed not to play music by Hitler’s favorite composer at the Israel Festival, renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim did just that Saturday, receiving a standing ovation from most of the audience but angry shouts from a vocal minority.

Appearing in Jerusalem at the prestigious arts festival, Barenboim and the Berliner Staatskapelle played music from Richard Wagner’s opera “The Valkyrie.”

Music from the opera was featured in the original program. But after protests from Holocaust survivors and pressure from politicians, the management asked Barenboim to choose an alternative.

Barenboim expressed regret but agreed. The orchestra played Schumann’s 4th Symphony and Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” instead.

However, at the end of the concert, he asked the audience if it wanted him to play the Wagner piece after all. Most audience members applauded loudly, but a few protested.

“It’s the music of the concentration camps!” one shouted.

“You don’t have to listen,” retorted 67-year-old Michael Avraham. “You can go home. You didn’t go through the Holocaust. I did.”

Protesters banged doors and shouted “No!” for a few minutes, but the playing of the work ended without further incident.