Aaron Rabushka wrote:

>Bach's Cantata #42 (IIRC) casts Jews in an undesirable light.  I recall
>an album booklet (may have been Telefunken) where "Juden" in the original
>German became (appropriately) "Juifs" in French and (editorially) "Enemies"
>in English.  A shame because the music is gorgeous.
>
>Another instance of overt anti-semitism to watch out for is in Metastasio's
>Passion Play (lines include "Does Hebrew cruely know no bounds?" and "They
>will pay for what they've done to their king!").

These are rather typical examples of the way Jews were portrayed in all
sorts of Christian texts for many centuries.  They stem from the fact that
it was obviously extremely frustrating to Christians that the people among
whom the man they considered their savior arose obstinately refused to
recognize him as the "Son of God." It has only been relatively recently
that this attitude toward Jews has been recognized as anything to be
concerned about.

I think that it is entirely legitimate for anyone who is offended by texts
such as these to refrain from performing them, or attending performances
of them, since (unlike the bits of Wagner which so exercise some folks)
they are clearly direct and explicit expressions of hatred of Jews.  Or,
one can simply take them in context as examples of the culture of less
enlightened past centuries.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]