Shostakovich/Stalin

[zingarese]

Hi, I'm doing a history project in regards to Shostakovich within the Soviet Union and his relationship with Stalin. I was just wondering if anyone knows of any good books, etc., in regards to Shostakovich in general, most specifically the war symphonies or Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and their impact at the time. If you have any recommendations, that would be appreciated. Thank you!

[m]

The main source I'd recommend is a movie 'Shostakovich Against Stalin: The War Symphonies', with Valery Gergiev.

There is a very controversial book by Solomon Volkov 'Testimony'. It made a lot of stir, mainly due to its speculative character and numerous fact errors. I think there is somewhere a website, solely dedicated to this topic.   

Although I did not read it, there is also S. Volkov 'Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator'.

And the last source I am aware of is a movie by A. Sokurov 'D. Shostakovitch Sonata for Viola'. Haven't seen it yet.

I believe, you can find all of them on Amazon.

[zingarese]

I've been looking into the movie and I'm going to order the 'Shostakovich and Stalin:' book. I'll check out the rest of them. Thank you very much!

[m]

I've been looking into the movie and I'm going to order the 'Shostakovich and Stalin:' book. I'll check out the rest of them. Thank you very much!

You are welcome  . Sounds like very interesting project. Do it well!

BTW, I see in your signature Liszt Concerto no.2 1st movement. If I remember correctly, this is a one movement concerto.

[zingarese]

Liszt's Concerto No. 2 is four movements... maybe you're thinking of something else?

[m]

Liszt's Concerto No. 2 is four movements... maybe you're thinking of something else?

Am I going completely crazy?

No, everything is right. Just opened the score. Wikipedia says the same:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_concerto_No._2_%28Liszt%29

[zingarese]

Ah, yes, you're right. Sorry. I got confused. 4 sections, 1 mvt. There we go.

As you may be able to tell I haven't been working on it very extensively lately... haha. I love the piece though.

[gep]

I realise that this post comes some 5 years after the last post, but nevertheless...

There is a very controversial book by Solomon Volkov 'Testimony'. It made a lot of stir, mainly due to its speculative character and numerous fact errors.

This book is only controversial to those who do not like their perceived picture of Shostakovich being changed. The 'numerous fact errors' are pretty much only to be found in the works of those who wrote/write about Testimony and do not wish it to be true. Perhaps you refer to the book ny Laurent Fay? Of those who fully endorse Testimony, I could name people like Maxim and Galina Shostakovich (his children), and Mtsislav Rostropovich, Kirill Kondrashin and Isaac Glickman (the last of those perhaps one of the closest friends of DDS).
I would strongly recommend reading the book ‘Shostakovich Reconsidered’, by Allan B. Ho and Dmitry Feofanev, published by Toccata Press in 1998, about one third of which is dedicated to check all the critique brought against ‘Testimony’ (mainly by Laurent Fay and Richard Tarushkin), resulting pretty much in proving the scholarship of Fay and Tarushkin to be incomplete and based quite often on selective readership (as in taking very questionable sources, such as official Soviet texts, as holy and ignoring everything that does not fit their purposes). The rest of the book is based on interviews of and writings by people that knew Shostakovich (the real one, that is!) very well indeed.
Lastly, I would say that anyone still believing Shostakovich to be a loyal son of the Soviet Communist system has never listened to the music the man wrote (heard it, perhaps, but not listened!)

The book 'Shostakovich and Stalin" is a very good choice too. As for biograpies, I'd recommend the one by Krzysztov Meyer.


All best,
gep