The Organization of Partisans and Anti-Nazi Fighters in Israel charged today that a cantata to be presented next week by the Israel National Opera was the “work of a Nazi composer.” The Opera director called the charge “fantastic.”
The cantata, “Carmina Burana” was composed by Carl Orff, 71, who wrote the piece in 1937 as a work for orchestra, ballet and actors. The partisans group called on the public to boycott the performance and to do everything possible to force its cancellation.
Mrs. Edis de Phillippe, the director, said that the Israel National Opera had received a permit from the Film and Theater Censorship Board to present the work and that it had been broadcast several times by Kol Israel and Galei Zahal. She added that there was no indication that the composer had ever been connected with the Nazi movement in any way and that he had been married to a Jewish woman for many years.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
