Common sense prevails: L.A. County board of supervisors vote support for Wagner fest
You may recall the bit of controversy stirred up by a Los Angeles county supervisor who wanted Los Angeles Opera to downplay the emphasis on Wagner at next spring's 'Ring' festival, because of the composer's anti-Semitic views. (I enjoyed the lively discussion of folks who posted on my blog entry about this, except for the slimy Holocaust-deniers who started chiming in, perhaps while taking a break from denying President Obama's US birth certificate or the landing on the moon 40 years ago.)
Anyway, here's some welcome news:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — County supervisors have voted to ...
support the Los Angeles Opera's planned festival next year celebrating Richard Wagner's epic "Ring" cycle despite one supervisor's protest over the German composer's anti-Semitic views.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday in support of a motion by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky replacing a motion by Supervisor Mike Antonovich. Antonovich wanted to add pieces by other composers to lessen the focus on Wagner because of his anti-Semitic writings. Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell says the supervisor is disappointed at Tuesday's outcome, but intends to work with the opera company to make improvements in the next year.
The opera says the festival, which will spotlight Wagner's four-part cycle, will include seminars and discussions to address Wagner's anti-Semitism.
Comments
YAY!!! Good for them. And they'll do what they can to provide the "revisionist" history of the great composer, as they should. A complete picture is about the good _and_ the bad, "warts and all." The "good" part of Wagner's achievement is awfully _great_, really, so here's to recognizing (and celebrating) that greatness!
Posted by: Doug Halfen | July 22, 2009 10:48 PM