Wagner's Jews

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Arts Documentary hosted by unknown host, published by Overtone Films in 2013 - English narration

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German composer Richard Wagner was notoriously anti-Semitic, and his writings on Jews were later embraced by Hitler and the Nazis. But there is another, lesser-known side to this story. For years, many of Wagner's closest associates were Jews - young musicians who became personally devoted to him, and provided crucial help to his work and career. They included the teenaged piano prodigy Carl Tausig; Hermann Levi, a rabbi's son who conducted the premiere of Wagner's Parsifal; Angelo Neumann, who produced Wagner's works throughout Europe; and Joseph Rubinstein, a pianist who lived with the Wagner family for years and committed suicide when Wagner died. Even as Wagner called for the elimination of the Jews from German life, many of his most active supporters were Jewish. Why were they drawn to him? And how could Wagner even accept their embrace? These questions are at the heart of Wagner's Jews, the first film to focus on Wagner's complex personal relationships with Jews. Filmed on location in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, Wagner's Jews reveals this remarkable story through archival sources, re-enactments, interviews, and performances of original musical works by Wagner's Jewish colleagues the first such performances on film. Featuring Zubin Mehta and Leon Botstein among others, the film also explores the ongoing controversy over performing Wagner's music in Israel. The same questions asked in Wagner's time still resonate today: is it possible to separate the art from its creator? Can sublime music transcend prejudice, bigotry and the weight of history?