Music that remembers
The Boston Globe
After the end of history, listening to Shostakovich’s art of witness.
Selected Writing: Music & History
Shostakovich’s late, luminous symphony of songs
The Boston Globe
In the Fourteenth Symphony, a world of half-lights and private truth.
When music was like medicine
The New York Times
Mstislav Rostropovich looks back on Soviet musical life, and the ghosts who linger.
Light and shadows:
The music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg
The Boston Globe
A composer for whom art after Auschwitz was not only possible. It was the only antidote to life after Auschwitz.
The heroism of Hans von Dohnanyi
The Boston Globe
In a rare interview, the conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi recalls his father’s war against Adolf Hitler.
Beethoven wandering
The Boston Globe
A sculpture’s long journey to its present home.
The Denouncer
The Boston Globe
A meeting with Tikhon Khrennikov, the official who attacked Shostakovich and Prokofiev — and outlived the Soviet Union.