Testimony Av Dmitri Shostakovich

<p>''A terrifying and unhappy book...'' <i>The Guardian</i><br><br>This astounding self-portrait covering the whole of Shostakovich''s life (1906-1975) was prepared in collaboration with the distinguished Soviet musicologist Solomon Volkov. With the composer''s consent, the manuscript was smuggled out of Soviet Russia - but Shostakovich, fearing reprisals, stipulated that the book should not appear until after his death. <br><br>Ever since its publication in 1979 it has been the subject of controversy, some suggesting that Volkov invented parts of it, but most affirming that it revealed a profoundly ambivalent Shostakovich which the world had never seen before - his life at once triumphant and tragic.<br><br>Either way, it remains indispensible to an understanding of Shostakovich''s life and work. <i>Testimony</i> is intense and fiercely ironic, both plain-spoken and outspoken.</p>