alleged communist links
The American conductor Leonard Bernstein was monitored for decades by the FBI for alleged communist agitation, as reported by the magazine 'The New Yorker. "
As this U.S. publication, a 800-page dossier shows that U.S. agents spied on the musician, even long after the time of the dreaded "communist fighter" Joseph McCarthy.
Bernstein surveillance began in the mid 40's. In the McCarthy era, roughly between 1947 and 1956, was particularly intense. The charismatic musician and was then director of the New York Philharmonic.
For example, in 1953, the Department of Estado se negó a prorrogar su pasaporte. Bernstein tuvo que presentar una declaración jurada, según la cual iba a ser leal a Estados Unidos rechazando el comunismo soviético.
Sin embargo, las acusaciones continuaron, a veces con fuentes poco confiables. Así, en 1981, fue citado un informante que declaró: "Sé que Bernstein es un miembro del Partido Comunista. No tengo pruebas de ello, pero lo sé por la forma en la que habla".
Otro caso de espionaje se dio en 1971, cuando los agentes norteamericanos hicieron una advertencia antes de un evento en el que Bernstein iba a presentar su famosa obra 'Mass'. Tal y como ha revelado la revista, éstos dijeron que el compositor planeaba, junto a elementos Left, a plot "to ridicule the president and other government officials through an anti-war ended." So you can read in a memorandum dated August 16, 1971. The work had been requested by the former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the opening of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' on 8 September in Washington.
After the warnings of the FBI, then-President Richard Nixon decided not to attend the opening ceremony. For his part, he had communicated that he wanted the night the star in Jackie Kennedy.
The piece is considered both stylistically and politically one of the most radical Bernstein.
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