The Unforgiven: Wagner, Jews, and Antisemitism

Photo credit Josh Goldstine

Notwithstanding Richard Wagner’s infamy as one of the most vituperative anti-Semites of his age, a large number of Jews embraced his music, chief among them Theodor Herzl. In this talk, based on his 2020 book Wagnerism, Alex Ross will try to untangle some of the complexities surrounding Wagner’s relationships with Jews, without seeking a uniform reading of a contradictory record.

Alex Ross has been the music critic of The New Yorker since 1996. He is the author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Listen to This, and Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. In 2008 he was named a MacArthur Fellow.

This program was held on Zoom. If you missed the event, you can listen to the audio recording below.

This event is free, donations are welcome.