Roberto Paternostro conducts the Israel Chamber Orchestra during a rehearsal in Bayreuth July 24, 2011. Israeli performances of works by the German composer are often accompanied by protests from Holocaust survivors and others who say he promoted anti-Semitism. – Reuters photo

BERLIN: An Israeli orchestra is set to perform a work by Adolf Hitler's favorite composer, Richard Wagner, in a taboo-breaking concert in Germany.

The head of Bayreuth city's cultural affairs department said Monday the Israel Chamber Orchestra's performance will mark the first time an Israeli orchestra has played Wagner in Germany.

Nicolaus Richter says the orchestra's concert Tuesday during the annual Bayreuth festival in Wagner's hometown is a sign of ''coming to terms with the past.''

He says the orchestra started rehearsing the Wagner piece, the Siegfrid Idyll, only upon their arrival in Germany Sunday due to the sensitivities in Israel.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has observed an informal ban on Wagner's music because of its use in Nazi propaganda before and during World War II.