Richard Wagner, the great German composer, was born two hundred
years ago on May 22, 1813. Wagner was one of the most stupendous
musical geniuses who ever lived. He was also a notorious anti-
Semite. Even on his two hundredth birthday, there is no ignoring
the dead elephant in his living room. At the same time, to say
that Wagner was an anti-Semite, and to say no more than that, is
too simple. It is too simple because Wagner was very much a
self-contradictory genius, and his contradictions extended to
his attitude toward Jewish people. In other words, Wagner was an
anti-Semite, but… And the but was not inconsequential.Read More