13895 Wagner News 174 - Wagner Society of England

It was abundantly clear that we could not use an existing orchestra. All orchestras
in Israel are supported by public funds and thus would shun participation so as not to
endanger their funding. For the same reason we could not hold the concert in a municipal
hall. With private funds we scheduled a concert and over 100 contracts were signed by the
Wagner Society with singers and with players of the best orchestras in Israel. We then
went to the press with announcements and ads announcing the concert and all hell broke
loose: hefty protests from holocaust survivors filled the radio waves and the press.
Within 24 hours the President of Tel Aviv University cancelled our rental
agreement citing our not having informed the University authorities of the nature of the
concert. This was an outright fabrication of the facts. We had scheduled a symposium on
Wagner's music prior to the concert and had discussed the contents and venue with the
heads of the University's music department. We then signed a contract with the Tel Aviv
Hilton hotel to rent their convention hall, only to find that contracts do not count when it
comes to a Wagner event. Amid an international furore of hundreds of letters to the
editors of all Israeli newspapers as well as hundreds of talkbacks on the internet we were
forced to call off the concert for lack of venue.
What did we learn from this affair? We learned that the time had come to lift the
unofficial ban on playing Wagner's music. Hundreds of people who bought tickets for the
concert in less than a week were ample proof that there are people in Israel who vote to
listen to the music. We learned that to crush a taboo and destroy the last remaining symbol
of the boycott of Germany is much harder than just renting a hall. We are also determined
to go on, to try again and again until we succeed. And succeed we shall. I am often asked
why I don't wait for the last of the Holocaust survivors to die. I maintain that that will not
serve any purpose. We live at a time when second generation and third generation
children stick to their parents and we cannot afford to continue to boycott the works of
Richard Wagner. I hope that 2013 will bring another opportunity to play the music which
so many of us love. For the music belongs to the world regardless to who its author was.
GERMAN TUITION: FREE TRIAL
Special offer for Wagner Society Members
Having recently discovered what she describes as “the great
musical works of Richard Wagner” German language teacher Katja
Wodzinski is offering a free trial hour of tuition to members of the
Wagner Society, either as individuals or in small groups.
Graduating in French, German and Media Science from the
University of Paderborn in her native Germany, she gained
experience as an executive assistant in several European countries
as well as in the United States.
“Eventually I decided to turn my passion for languages into a career and I became
a teacher. I have now been teaching German for various language institutes in England
and Germany to classes as well as private students. Dividing my time between the Goethe
Institut London and business students from various industries, my aim is to make the
German language and culture accessible for everyone.”
Carefully planned and executed sessions include a variety of different exercises
tailored to students’ needs. Challenging grammar is broken down into comprehensible
and logical steps and vocabulary revision comes with games and multimedia aids.
Reference is also made to contemporary language and to current affairs.
Website: www.easy-german.com Email: katja@easy-german.com
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