Wagner works roil festival

A citywide opera festival touted as the most significant cultural event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympics has sparked protests by Jewish leaders because of plans to showcase the works of German composer Richard Wagner, whose anti-Semitic writings inspired Adolf Hitler. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The $32 million Ring Festival LA, planned to last from April 15 through June 30, 2010, is expected to draw thousands of cultural tourists for a variety of exhibitions, performances, symposiums and special events.

The centerpiece will be Wagner's epic four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen," a performance organizers say will be a "defining moment" for the city but critics say will reopen wounds of those who survived the Holocaust.