Israeli Public Radio Plays Wagner, Suffers Backlash, Apologizes

The station Kol HaMusica broadcast Act Three of Götterdämmerung in a 1991 Bayreuth performance led by Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim. Because of the composer’s anti-Semitic beliefs and the co-optation of his music by the Nazi regime, there has been an unofficial but sternly defended ban on performing or broadcasting Wagner in Israel for the country’s entire history.