--- MJ Walker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> David Latane: >I wouldn't give up my Bohm Mozart
> personally -- [if the?]
>
> figure of Yehudi Menuhin didn't mind playing and
> recording with the man after the war I can forgive a
> drunken remark or two--in vino veritas is usually
> not
> veritas in toto, often only in in vino stupidus. <
>
> Is it for you to forgive?
Yes, it is: to the extent that I am offended by
hearing about Bohm's anti-semitism, I am the one who
must forgive him for the offense to me. What else is
there when we say "I can forgive"?
> Would you be so tolerant
> if you met a drunken German in the bus or whatever
> screaming "Saujude" or "Da hilft nur noch Zyklon B"
> (both things I have met with)? Certain things said
> are unforgivable.
Again, by and to whom? Nothing as far as I can tell is
unforgiveable (by some saintly sort or another, if not
by me). I would hope that in a sober and more mature
mood the drunken German would have a hard time
forgiving himself. Those who trespass against us are
easier to forgive than ourselves.
> Personally, I have never liked Böhm's music-making
> much, but that has nothing to do with his political
> affiliations, I agree. There were several conductors
> who "arrangierten sich" with the Nazis to different
> degrees, but Böhm seems to have been pretty rabid
> about the "elimination" of "degenerate music" etc-
> if you read French, go to this site :
>
http://www.google.fr/search?q=cache:Ng9_Hlxw4ycJ:www.fndirp.asso.fr/ReichMusique.htm+b%C3%B6hm+%26+the+nazis&hl=fr
> ; another interesting approach to *Great Conductors
> of the Third Reich* is here:
>
http://secure2.ihwy.com/shop/showdetl.cfm?&DID=21&Product_ID=1883&CATID=159
> Menuhin performed very seldom with Böhm - a random
> check gives me 2 post-war concerts, both pirated;
> there are however no official recordings to my
> knowledge. This may be significant. Anyway,
> Menuhin's choice to act forgivingly was his own &
> cannot somehow confirm our own attitude. And I
> wonder if he had read or heard about Böhm's
> anti-Jewish rantings in print.
> best
> mj
He must have had plenty of scuttlebutt on most
prominant German composers and what they did in the
war.
=====
David Latane
http://www.standmagazine.org (Stand Magazine, Leeds)
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