Police admit mistake over bomb hoax
Basel police have apologised to the French composer-conductor, Pierre Boulez, for a pre-dawn raid on his hotel room last month.
In the early hours of November 2, three police officers awakened the Frenchman in his room at the five-star hotel Drei Könige in Basel and confiscated his passport.
Basel police spokesman, Klaus Mannhart, said the raid was the result of a misunderstanding over a bomb threat in Switzerland six years ago.
“We apologise for making a mistake. He wasn’t arrested,” he said.
Police said that the 76-year-old composer was on a list of suspects held by Swiss police in connection with the bomb hoax.
Boulez, who was the principal conductor for the BBC symphony orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, was due in Chicago the same day. He was able to pick up his passport two hours later.
Critical review
Six years earlier, a journalist who had written a critical review of a Boulez concert had complained of receiving a bomb threat.
Since Boulez had already left Switzerland, the earlier investigation was unable to proceed and Boulez name was left on file, added police.
Boulez has since written to Basel police complaining about the handling of the affair.
The Frenchman is known for his radical views on the traditional music business and once declared: “All the art of the past must be destroyed.”
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