Satoshi Akima writes:

>To see 'race' theory in Wagner one has to adopt as perverse an
>interpretation of him as Hitler imposed upon Wagner, and thus ends up
>conceding to Hitler that he was right in interpreting Wagner in such a way.

Satoshi Akima surely can't be unaware of Wagner's writings, in particular
"Jewry in Music", where he reasons (if that's the right word) that the Jew
must be eliminated from German life.  There's nothing perverse in facing
the plain truth that Hitler had no need to twist Wagner's writings to serve
his own ends.

Such attempts at whitewashing do Wagner no more good than Satoshi Akima's
refusal to admit elements of anti-semitism in his Hero's portrayal of
Alberich; or the intense homosexual strands in "Tristan and Isolde",
Wagner's sop for the infatuated Ludwig of Bavaria - let alone in
"Parsifal".  (Note: "elements" and "strands".  They are of course not
the whole story.)

Of course, much of the vitriol squirted at atonal and dodecaphonic music by
the Nazis was anti-semitically inspired; hideously ironic, when Wagner was
largely responsible for loosening if not rending the tonal garment in the
first place.

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"