: Historical Moment in Bayreuth - Henschel, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Paternostro

There is no doubt that Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite; Adolf Hitler was also greatly enamoured of his music and a frequent and very welcome guest to the green hill at Bayreuth. For this reason, Wagner’s music still reminds numerous Jews and survivors of the Holocaust of this grim period of history. The public performance of any music by Richard Wagner remains forbidden in Israel up to the present day.

For this reason, the appearance of the Israel Chamber Orchestra in Bayreuth in July 2011 including music by Wagner therefore sparked off a vehement controversy, particularly in Israel; there were even demands made about the withdrawal of funding for the orchestra. The conductor Roberto Paternostro and his fellow musicians however consider the concert to have been a sign of “rapprochement, tolerance and an open cultural exchange in historical awareness”. This event also awakened considerable public interest in Germany; the live recording of this memorable concert in which musical history was written is now available.