Antisemitic letter by composer Wagner to be auctioned in Israel
This highly controversial composer had some hateful things to say.
Richard Wagner, Paris, 1861
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
JERUSALEM (DPA/TNS) - A letter by German composer Richard Wagner containing antisemitic content will be auctioned on Tuesday in Jerusalem, where the German composer remains a highly controversial figure.The letter, which dates from April 25, 1869, is addressed to the French philosopher and writer Edouard Schure.In it, Wagner complains about the destructive influence of the Jews on modern culture, according to explanatory notes from the Kedem Auction House.The starting price for the hand-written letter was listed as 5,000 dollars.Many Israelis are opposed to the public performance of works by Wagner, because of his antisemitic views and his popularity during the Nazi era.A boycott introduced in 1938 has been broken several times, but a complete symphony concert of his works has yet to be staged in Israel. A small group of music lovers and conductors in the country have long been lobbying for the right to perform Wagner's music in public.———©2018 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.