Hi Andrew, the point that I was trying to raise was whether, if one can hear something such as sexuality in the music of one composer, then perhaps one can hear it in the music of another composer. Surely it wouldn't make any difference whether any of the composers in question were composers of classical music or easy listening, pop, jazz or rock?
I wasn't suggesting that one could hear anti-semitism in Wagner's music – merely trying to raise the issue of whether, if one can hear sexuality in music, then can one not hear other aspects of an individual in an artist's work? It was rhetorical, as much as anything – I'm sure that nobody would actually be able to do that.
My understanding is that Wagner was anti-semitic, but that the Nazis' main interest in his music was in its use of Germanic myths and legends – particularly, of course, those of the Niebelungenlied. The Nazis were extremely clever at picking up bits and pieces of culture and history and pressing them to their unpleasant agenda. One could look at the work of the philosopher Nietzsche as another example – he was actually quite pro-semitic, and his ideas of Übermensch have nothing to do with racism in any way, but that wasn't about to stop the Nazis. As an aside, it's interesting to contemplate what Richard Strauss did with Nietzsche's Thus Sprake Zarathustra – particularly in light of Strauss's early infatuation with the Nazis.
It's an interesting point that you raise in terms of Wagner and Prussian culture; I'd suggest – and this is merely my personal opinon – that Wagner had more in common with the paintings of Casper David Friedrich: romantic in the truest sense of the 19th century meaning of the word; a rejection of Classicism and, to an extent, the Enlightenment. For me, the great days of Prussia were very much part of the Classical tradition (although this, of course, is a simplification).
You mention Berlin – and speak to what my best friend (a German, himself) refers to as my "Prussian heart". He was in the capital a few days ago and tells me that he's brought me a present from the private chambers of Frederick the Great. And yes, I've been to the Riechstag myself; I walked around in a state of excitement, telling myself that this was where Bismarck had thrown teacups around when he was staging a tantrum in order to get his way with the Kaiser. Perhaps it's not surprising that my personal literary icon is Thomas Mann. :)