I’ve been diving into the piano music of Dmitri Shostakovich lately, and it’s like stumbling into a secret room full of contradictions. The music seems gritty, tender, sarcastic, and soulful all at once. Everything seems full of restless energy with

Dmitri Shostakovich is famous for his devastating music and decades-long struggle to assert his artistic autonomy in the face of a totalitarian government. The important roles that his wife and two children played in his life and career are less

On 9 August 1975, the world lost one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic and profound musical voices, Dmitry Dmitriyevich Shostakovich. Fifty years later, as we commemorate the anniversary of his death, his legacy endures as a testament to the

Composer Dmitri Shostakovich had a tumultuous professional life, surviving discouragement and denunciation by the Soviet government over a period of decades. He also had a tumultuous personal life. He was married three times to three very different women: Nina Varzar,

In a new Deutsche Grammophon recording, pianist Yuja Wang presents the two piano concertos of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) along with selections from his Preludes for piano. The concerts are with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons. When you consider

The 30-year friendship of Dmitri Shostakovich and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich started in 1943 when Rostropovich was at the Moscow Conservatory. Shostakovich had recently joined the Conservatory, and Rostropovich was part of his orchestration class. The Shostakovich family had left their

During his life, Dimitri Shostakovich was, despite being a very public figure, a very private person. After his death in 1975, the publishing of many memoirs, letters, and diaries relating to his life by those who knew him have offered

Following the victory of Spain’s Nationalist party in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the rule of fascist Franciso Franco, the orphans of the dead Republican fighters were sent out of the country. The USSR, a support of the Republican