Testimony

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autobiography TESTIMONY The Memoirsof Dmitri Shostakovich as related ro and edited by Soloi 1 lOH V)1 küV Shostakovich calls his recollections "the testimony of an eyewitness." This series of associative reminiscences ranges over the full length of his life, from before the Revolution through the ill-fated thaw which followed Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin. Scenes spring to life: astonishing and courageous conversations with Stalin; the competition to create a new national anthem ' (Shostakovich joined forces with Khachaturian); the fabrication pf falsé geniuses; the ubiquity of plagiarism. He recalls rfiusicians, artists, and writers whom he knew: Prokoíiev, Stravinsky, Glazunov, Meyerhold, Akhmatova. And he speaks out passionately against the anti-Semitism rife in all levels of Soviet society "Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the world's most celebrated composers. As such he was the pride of the Soviet Union, which lavisheaxall honors on him. He was a man of rrtystery, with few... Tovább

Fülszöveg

autobiography TESTIMONY The Memoirsof Dmitri Shostakovich as related ro and edited by Soloi 1 lOH V)1 küV Shostakovich calls his recollections "the testimony of an eyewitness." This series of associative reminiscences ranges over the full length of his life, from before the Revolution through the ill-fated thaw which followed Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin. Scenes spring to life: astonishing and courageous conversations with Stalin; the competition to create a new national anthem ' (Shostakovich joined forces with Khachaturian); the fabrication pf falsé geniuses; the ubiquity of plagiarism. He recalls rfiusicians, artists, and writers whom he knew: Prokoíiev, Stravinsky, Glazunov, Meyerhold, Akhmatova. And he speaks out passionately against the anti-Semitism rife in all levels of Soviet society "Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the world's most celebrated composers. As such he was the pride of the Soviet Union, which lavisheaxall honors on him. He was a man of rrtystery, with few friends, and he lived almost a reclusive life. Buf he had strong party connections, knew everybody, even where the skeletons were rattling. \ "Somé of these skeletons start dancing in Testimony, [aj remarkable document." Í -Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times Book Review <4One of the most amazing documents yet from that fertile source o^amazing documents, the Soviet Union." l\ -Joseph McLellan, Washington Post Book World "The man and musician whose personality beams from these pageíj is full of the contradictions of flesh and blood and the will to surVive. Nobody who gets to know Shostakovich through his Testimpny will ever again hear his music in the old naive way." j-Karén Monson, Chicago Suti-Times Vissza