The Leningrad Symphony has been used as a political football almost from its inception and continues to be so. Those rabidly hostile to the Soviet Union claim that its composer Dmitri Shostakovich was ...

After a pause of eight years, Shostakovich returns to the symphonic form and produces his 10th Symphony. It is recognised as a masterpiece both here and abroad. String Quartets no. 7 & 8 are composed.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) announces it will perform Shostakovich’s defiant Symphony No 7 with a cutting-edge ...

Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Boulez, Berio, Khachaturian, Messiaen, Schnittke, Bernstein, Dutilleux and Lutoslawski have also written for Rostropovich. He was Music Director of the National Symphony ...