Michel Friedman was scheduled to give a speech on July 26 at the Green Hill in Bayreuth – to open the 150th Bayreuth Festival, under the title “Silenced Voices.” A memorial concert was planned for Jewish musicians who were persecuted and murdered during Nazi rule. But the festival management canceled the event, officially citing “security concerns.” Friedman has now commented on the background in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, expressing dismay.
Friedman: “The ground in Bayreuth is contaminated”
In the conversation with the SZ in Munich, Friedman appeared affected. He recalled the history of the festival site: Since 1876, the music of the avowed antisemite Richard Wagner has resounded there; later, the hill became a stage for Nazi ideology. Adolf Hitler was a regular guest, and Winifred Wagner, the composer’s daughter-in-law and festival director during the Nazi years, admitted as late as 1975: “If Hitler came through the door today, I would be just as cheerful and just as happy to see him and have him here as ever.”
Friedman, who had already been disinvited from an event in Klütz last September for security reasons, was not surprised. At that time, he had spoken anyway – at a replacement event organized by Berlin. He left open whether he would now travel to Bayreuth. The cancellation is a sign that the reckoning with the past on the Green Hill is not yet complete.
Festival between remembrance and the present
Bayreuth Festival has been criticized for years for not adequately addressing Richard Wagner’s antisemitism and the role of the festival house under National Socialism. The planned memorial concert was intended to be a step in this reckoning. That it was canceled precisely for security reasons raises questions about how the legacy is handled.
Friedman emphasized that the cancellation affects not only him personally but also the memory of the murdered musicians. “The event could have sent a strong signal,” he said. Instead, the impression remains that the ground in Bayreuth is still contaminated – by a history that has not been confronted.
The festival management itself has not yet commented further on the security concerns. It remains unclear whether the cancellation was due to specific threats or was a preventive measure. Friedman called for more transparency: “People need to be told why a memorial event cannot take place.”
The cancellation of the memorial concert shows how deep the wounds still run.
Source: www.sueddeutsche.de
