The Phenomenon of Unmasking: The Case of Mihail Andricu
The Phenomenon of Unmasking: The Case of Mihail Andricu

Summary/Abstract: The phenomenon of unmasking began in Bucharest in 1958, when the Red Army withdraw from Romania. This action involved bringing political cases against intellectuals (usually privileged by the regime) for the most absurd reasons. Workers, agents of Securitate (Romanian communist secret police) and other intellectuals took part in the trials. These public demonstrations were intended to re-educate those who had rebelled against the system, but they also served as a warning to those brought there and to everyone else, as audio recordings of the trials were broadcast to intellectual gatherings in the country’s major cities. The present study focuses on the composer, pianist, teacher and music critic Mihail Andricu, who, on April 7, 1959, was “unmasked” in a political trial held in the hall of the Central Council of Syndicates on Lipscani Street (in Bucharest), directed by organs of the Securitate, at which intellectuals from the music, literature and theatre world hurled accusations.

• Details
• Contents