BERLIN (JTA) – The newly announced future conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic reportedly has refused to give further interviews after two major German media outlets published antisemitic comments
about him. Kirill Petrenko, 43, a Russian-born Jew, was elected chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on June 21. He will replace conductor Sir Simon Rattle in September 2018. In two commentaries, one from Northern German Radio (NDR) and another in Welt Online, antisemitic stereotypes were used to describe the conductor.

NDR commentator Sabine Lange, writing about Petrenko and a German-born contender for the position, described the latter – Christian Thielemann – as a world-renowned expert in the German sound, and Petrenko as a mythical, dwarflike figure from Wagner’s operas, “the tiny gnome, the Jewish caricature.”

The Welt-Online commentator noted that, while Petrenko and Thielemann were otherwise comparable, it was “a relief to many” that Petrenko enjoys good interpersonal relations, “as at least one of the
female opera singers at this year’s Bayreuth [Wagner] Festival can attest.” Readers were quick to point out the antisemitic stereotypes of overly competitive and over-sexed Jews, and the articles were edited or removed. But the fact that no editors had picked up on these breaches prior to publication was disturbing to many.

Both reports were “bursting with antisemitic hatred,” one reader wrote to NDR, adding: “This is now apparently OK in Germany again.” An NDR editor later apologized for any impressions of antisemitic stereotypes, and insisted the commentator only wanted to pick up on Wagnerian operatic themes, given that Petrenko and Thielemann would be meeting during the Bayreuth Wagner festival. The statement “is an insult to our intelligence,” one reader responded. “It’s just unbelievable that you could not have been aware [of the antisemitic stereotypes].” NDR later retracted its original statement and replaced it with another, saying that the editorial staff had failed in its review of the submitted commentary, should never have published it, and would be more careful in the future. In its commentary, Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten noted that the entire affair proved that “antisemitic stereotypes cannot be eradicated by decades of reflection on the crimes of National Socialism.”