Word: panels
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...facing it" with discussion implies that discussion absolves the performers of any damage done. Yet the alternative is to stop performing the St. John Passion, a piece that is moving even to many whom it offends and is based on a story essential to the faith of millions. The panel discussion unearthed a question too horrible to be answered lightly: What do we do with the foundations of our culture when we no longer approve of them? We can't simply throw them out. Out of tradition and aesthetic fashion, Bach's St. John Passion will continue to be performed...
...does not back down from the lines which most directly implicate "the Jews". At the proper moments they exhort Pilate to accept Jesus ("Nicht diesen, sondern Barrabam") and crucify him ("Kreuzige! Kreuzige!") with dramatic sincerity. These are the lines both Stephen Jay Gould and certain Christian members of the panel audience said made them feel uncomfortable. Obviously, Gould is typical of the performers, for they all seem to "face" controversy with a loyal eye to Bach's artistry. Unfortunately, "facing" controversy can sound a lot like acknowledging controversy without reacting...
Even James Carroll, the most outspoken Christian on the panel, was willing to criticize the book of John. He pointed out that it was composed many decades after the events it describes and was more polemical in nature (written for Hellenic audiences) than the three "synoptic" gospels. Carroll also defended John by contextualizing his text as being written before there was any clear distinction between Jewish and Christian religions or ethnicities. Thus, the Passion story cannot be categorized with modern anti-Semitic thought a la Nietzche...
...hold the anti-Semitism discussion: Great art should be performed, and when it is controversial, that controversy must be faced. But this seems to be a stop-gap argument. Was The Boston Cecilia primarily motivated by a desire to discuss art and anti-Semitism, or was the panel discussion merely an attempt to ameliorate the controversy of a highly desirable performance...
...panel of artists, professors and journalists discussed censorship and the arts last night in Harvard Hall as part of a series of events to recognize Queer Harvard Month...