And a happy Purim to all! I am celebrating in the only suitable way, with music (Handel's Esther) and food (I baked hamentashen!). Like lunar new year, this isn't really my holiday either, but several of my friends have years ago forgiven my fascination with Wagner and declared me an honorary Jew, so I don't feel guilty (wait, that's not quite right, is it. . .). Besides, these days everyone should join a celebration commemorating the downfall of grasping imperial ambition and ethnic hatred.
I'll post next about The Flowering Tree, but first I have to finish tying all these jordan almonds in pink netting, because I loved it so much I'm going to marry it.
2 comments:
I wouldn't worry much about forgiveness since most of the major Wagner conductors in the world these days (James Levine, Daniel Barenboeim, etc.) tend to be Purim celebrators.
And gung hay fat choy.
One of the ironies of Wagner and the Jews is that many of his early supporters were Jewish. There's a hilarious story that he told Hermann Levi that only a Christian could conduct Parsifal so Levi, who had probably had enough by then, said he'd have to bow out and Wagner had to backpedal frantically since no one else was qualified.
The best thing I've ever read on the subject is Kim Chernin's brief eloquent essay "Is Wagner Good for the Jews?" in Seven Pillars of Jewish Denial.
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