Wagner festival reinstates Holocaust memorial event after cancellation
Key takeaways
- The Bayreuth Festival had canceled a planned memorial lecture featuring Jewish author and broadcaster Michel Friedman, drawing sharp criticism.
- Works by Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Jewish composer Pavel Haas, who died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, will be performed at the event.
- The program aims to confront the festival's own history, while proceeds from the event are to fund scholarships for Israeli musicians.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The Bayreuth Festival had canceled a planned memorial lecture featuring Jewish author and broadcaster Michel Friedman, drawing sharp criticism.
https://p.dw.com/p/5G6p VComposer Richard Wagner was highly admired by Hitler, and he remains controversial for his antisemitic writings Image: Matthias Balk/dpa/picture alliance Advertisement To mark the Bayreuth Festival's 150th anniversary, a memorial event titled "Silenced Voices" ("Verstummte Stimmen") will take place on July 26, before the premiere of the opera "Rienzi."
Works by Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Jewish composer Pavel Haas, who died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, will be performed at the event.