Shostakovich Reconsidered

Allan Ho and Dmitry Feofanov systematically address all of the accusations levelled at Testimony and Solomon Volkov, Shostakovich's amanuensis, amassing an enormous amount of material about Shostakovich and his position in Soviet society and burying forever the picture of Shostakovich as a willing participant in the communist charade. Their analysis is complemented by a generous number of other essays, many of them by Shostakovich's close friends and acquaintances, and an interview with Solomon Volkov in which he explains how he worked with Shostakovich to help him write Testimony. Other contributors include the composer's son, Maxim, the cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose verses of protest Shostakovich set in the Thirteenth Symphony. The book concludes with a bravura examination by Ian MacDonald of Shostakovich's political attitudes considered against the contemporary events that shaped them. The book does more than set the record straight -- it establishes beyond any doubt the enormous courage of one of the moral giants of the age.