# Was Wagner really banned in Israel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 28, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330 "2002-11-28T13:06:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330/1 "2002-11-28T13:06:58Z")

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According to [this site](http://www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fopinions.files/bopinions.files/opinions39.htm), the public performance of Richard Wagner was effectively banned until October 27, 2000. Is that true? And if so, why was the ban rescinded?

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330/2 "2002-11-28T13:08:43Z")

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Hmm… Sorry, mods, if this is too Cafe. But I am hoping for a factual response, and was thinking that perhaps this was more about antisemitism than music.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330/3 "2002-11-28T14:33:53Z")

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IIRC it was more of a widely agreed to shunning or taboo than an officially sanctioned “ban”. Wagner was not played by the Israel symphony orchestra for decades because of the resonances to the Third Reich and how closely it embraced the whole Wagnerian mythic context, and the fact that Wagner was not a friend to/of the Jews in his time.

[Israel shatters long taboo with Wagner performance](http://www.jewishsf.com/bk001103/iwagner.shtml)

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-wagner-really-banned-in-israel/139330/4 "2002-11-28T15:58:53Z")

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Thank you, Astro. Very informative article!