14 Friday, October 30, 1981 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS The Case of Wagner, Strauss and Mahler Specializing in the creation of fine furniture in laminates, acrylics, glass. mirror & marble. The simplest Parsons Table or Cube to the most elaborate wall units .. all planned with quality materials, innovative styling & fine craftsmanship EVERYTHING CUSTOM DESIGNED OR BUILT TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS aiettf, 354 -4126 By JULIUS CHAJES (Editor's note: Chajes is conductor of the Jewish Community Center Sym- phony Orchestra and ad- junct assistant professor of music at Wayne State University.) According to recent re- ports from Israel, Zubin Mehta had to leave the stage, where shouts and fights interrupted his per- formance of "Love Death" from "Tristan and Isolde" by Richard Wagner. Mehta admitted that Wagner was not a "nice" person, but "since his music is great, let us forget what kind of a person he was!" Mehta does not know that performing Wagner in Is- rael is a moral and not a musical issue. Wagner's music was not heard in Israel since 1938 for a good reason. During his lifetime, Wagner wrote several articles not only against Jewish musicians, The Detroit Chapter of The American Technion Society cordially invites you to attend its 33rd Annual Dinner Sunday, November 8, 1981 at Congregation Adat Shalbm 29901 Middlebelt Road Farmington Hills Gustav Mahler, the Jewish Austrian composer who embraced Catholicism out of conviction, poses an entirely different problem. When appointed general music director of the Vienna State Opera at the begin- ning of this century, he in- troduced a new law: "No Jew, whether singer•or member of the orchestra, which was and still is the Vienna Philharmonic, can be employed by the Vienna State Opera!" A wave of baptism fol- lowed this decision. The famous Rose Quartet, which consisted of first chair musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic, had three Jews as mem- bers, headed by Arnold Rose. All three became Christians. Mahler's student and friend, Bruno Walter Schlesinger, under his teacher's influence, dropped his family name and be- came one of the greatest conductors of this century under the name of Bruno Walter. In January 1938, Bruno Major General (Res) Amos Horev President Technion Israel Institute of Technology Cocktails 6:00 p.m. Dinner 7:00 p.m. R.S.V.P. Technion Office 559-5190 TEL AVIV (JTA) — Former Premier Yitzhak Rabin called last week for a U.S.-Israeli-Egyptian summit meeting to be held early next year to "nail down" the Camp David agreements and the Egyptian-Israeli peace• treaty. Addressing the Labor Party's central committee, Rabin accused the Reagan Administration of lack of interest in the Camp David accords and said a three- way summit meeting was necessary so that President Reagan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt could affix their signatures to the agreements. bers to the music of Richard When Hitler entered Vienna two months later (in March 1938) Bruno Walter had to flee Austria and therefore was unable to par- ticipate in the Summer Fes- tival of Salzburg that year. COHEN F. Oak Park Council Paid for by Citizens for Cohen CASH FOR JEWELRY Highest dollars paid for your diamonds, gold, sterling or old jewelry , Wagner's anti-Semitic writings became the "bi- ble" for Adolf Hitler. Dis- regarding such great German composers as Handel, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, Hitler de- clared Wagner as the greatest composer of all time. T.I1 -rnolOgists Sate of Michigan License CALL FOR APPOINTMENT 851-7333 ZUBIN MEHTA Wagner. Therefore, Mehta, who claims that his grandmother had Jewish blood, will have to under- stand this unique situation for which there is no prev- ious example! Another German com- poser whose music is not played in Israel is Richard Strauss. He accepted the number one position in music during the Hitler era and even wrote the opera "Der Reichstag," glorifying Hitler. When Serge Kous- sevitzky, himself a baptized Jew, wanted to perform Strauss' music in Tel Aviv, riots broke out and the con- cert had to be called off. Koussevitzky rehearsed Strauss' music with Israel's Philharmonic however. He maintained that today's or- chestras have to be familiar with Strauss' music if they want to compete with other outstanding orchestras. EXCALIBUR Hair Styling Salon GUY MINNELLA International Hair Styling Award Winner 353-4848 Call for your appt. 24901 Northwestern Suite 111 Heritage Bldg. s.w Corner of Evergreen The Elected Officials of OAK PARK urge you to VOTE for Arthur Rabin Requests Three-Nation Summit in '82 Guest Speaker Dress Optional $100 per person for the Michigan Dormitory Building JULIUS CHAJES but against the Jewish people as a whole! These ar- ticles contributed greatly to the hostile spirit of the German intelligentsia toward the Jews in general. Walter asked Toscanini to come to Salzburg to conduct a few concerts during the Summer Festival. Famous as an anti-fascist, Tosca- nini, after consulting Bronislaw Huberman, the famous violinist and foun- der of the Israeli Philhar- monic, declined the invita- tion. The main reason for his decision was the general atmosphere in Austria, which made possible the in- clusion of well-known Nazis in the government. The survivors of Au- schwitz and Mauthausen — most of them live in Israel — cannot be asked to forget that their co-religionists had to march to gas cham- FROLICH • • • • • • • • • • • Mayes Marietta Astfastain Camcilinan Marshall Illsinse Comnissineer Denis Aaron Censmissiermar Alex Perleatt Donald &Man Barbara Muer Marilyn Mandl Nate Feiss Inds. Rena Arnold Ultima Ti. MINIM Alse Mrs. Onvld (Frances) Siephenl OAK PARK COUNCIL Vote Tues., Nov. 3 Pd. for by Committee to Elect Arthur Frohlich 21110 Gardner, O.P. 48237