As any music-lover knows Hitler was #1 fan of Richard Wagner's music and a regular attendee at Bayreuth Opera House. That has led, in turn, to many shunning the music of the composer, and in the case of Israel, his music not being played there at all - or is so, with much anger.
The Wagner "connection" to Hitler has always been a matter of fascination - and something the family has been keen to keep away from public gaze. No more it seems.
The Observer reports in "Wagner's heir vows to lay bare her family's Nazi history":
"The great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer, has vowed to investigate her family's links with the Nazis in a move that could be bitterly opposed by other members of the dynasty.
Katharina Wagner, 31, an opera stage director, feels she has a duty to do what previous generations have avoided. "When I was growing up, I was repeatedly confronted with this topic," she said. "Was my grandmother Hitler's lover? To what extent was my father embroiled with Hitler? No one in the family ever spoke about it. If my sister and I don't ask the questions, who then will?" Nine months ago, Katharina took over as co-director of the Bayreuth Festival, which started 133 years ago to showcase Wagner's work. She has introduced several changes with a view to opening up the event to the masses, including podcasts and giant TV screens, but last week's announcement that she plans to invite a team of researchers to lay bare the show's Nazi connections is her most controversial move yet.
"There's a shadow hanging over Bayreuth, and I feel a responsibility to try to get some clarity," Katharina said. She said she wanted "independent, renowned historians, and not only those with an affinity to Bayreuth" to carry out their investigations "independently of me and my family".
Katharina, who took over as festival co-director with her half-sister, Eva Wagner-Pasquier, after a lengthy family feud, said she expected some opposition from members of the clan. However, she said that the private archives of her father Wolfgang would also be open to scrutiny, suggesting he favoured her initiative."
The Wagner "connection" to Hitler has always been a matter of fascination - and something the family has been keen to keep away from public gaze. No more it seems.
The Observer reports in "Wagner's heir vows to lay bare her family's Nazi history":
"The great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer, has vowed to investigate her family's links with the Nazis in a move that could be bitterly opposed by other members of the dynasty.
Katharina Wagner, 31, an opera stage director, feels she has a duty to do what previous generations have avoided. "When I was growing up, I was repeatedly confronted with this topic," she said. "Was my grandmother Hitler's lover? To what extent was my father embroiled with Hitler? No one in the family ever spoke about it. If my sister and I don't ask the questions, who then will?" Nine months ago, Katharina took over as co-director of the Bayreuth Festival, which started 133 years ago to showcase Wagner's work. She has introduced several changes with a view to opening up the event to the masses, including podcasts and giant TV screens, but last week's announcement that she plans to invite a team of researchers to lay bare the show's Nazi connections is her most controversial move yet.
"There's a shadow hanging over Bayreuth, and I feel a responsibility to try to get some clarity," Katharina said. She said she wanted "independent, renowned historians, and not only those with an affinity to Bayreuth" to carry out their investigations "independently of me and my family".
Katharina, who took over as festival co-director with her half-sister, Eva Wagner-Pasquier, after a lengthy family feud, said she expected some opposition from members of the clan. However, she said that the private archives of her father Wolfgang would also be open to scrutiny, suggesting he favoured her initiative."
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