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How can we separate art from politics? Should we? Do we shun the
Dixie
Chicks when they disparage the president? (I don't. Then again,
I agree with them.) Do we refuse to play
Wagner
because he was a virulent anti-semite? Or is it just because his
music sucks?
Not an easy question. I raise it because of this new collection of
classic works conducted by the Wilhelm Furtwängler, a man I
discovered largely for the chance to make fun of his name but who
raises more interesting questions than "why didn't his father change
it to something less appalling?"
Furtwängler, you see, was the
director of the Berlin Philharmonic during the Nazi era. By staying
in Germany and holding on to his high profile position, he became a
symbol of the horrors of his time. There are claims that he stood up
to the authorities, that he did what he could for Jewish musicians.
Perhaps he did; perhaps he was insufficiently heroic. Perhaps he was
more; that's a question we can never answer for certain. But knowing
a little of the story colors the music, lends it a sadness and a
hollowness beyond the notes themselves.
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