Looking back, what was Shostakovich’s place in the cultural Cold War? Why did JFK claim that the arts could only flourish in “free societies”? And whose idea was that? Find out the answers in this initial installment of another season of “PostClassical,” featuring Solomon Volkov (author of Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich) and the usual gang: host Bill McGlaughlin, and Joe Horowitz and Angel Gil-Ordonez of DC’s unique PostClassical Ensemble.
LISTENING GUIDE:
PART ONE:
00:17 – JFK speaking about the “place of the artist” in “free societies” – and denying the possibility of distinguished Soviet art
10:15 – Nicolas Nabokov, the source of Kennedy’s doctrine, denounces Shostakovich
11:18 – Shostakovich: Prelude and Fugue in D minor (Benjamin Pasternack, piano)
26:15 – Leonard Bernstein speaks up for Shostakovich (1966)
27:33 – How Solomon Volkov met Shostakovich; the String Quartet No. 8
29:00—Volkov on Stalin as culture-czar
39:07 – Shostakovich/Barshai: String Symphony (PCE conducted by Angel Gil-Ordonez)
PART TWO:
00:00 – Waltz from The New Babylon, Shostakovich’s first film score (PCE/Gil-Ordonez)
3:44 – Volkov on Shostakovich and film
9:07 – The New Babylon: finale (PCE/Gil-Ordonez)
18:00 – JFK notwithstanding: propaganda as high art -- The New Babylon
20:30 – Volkov on Stalin and film; “he read 300 to 400 pages a day”
24:00 – Musical responses to WW II: Stravinsky vs. Prokofiev vs. Shostakovich
31:45 – Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 7: finale (Alexander Toradze)
44:00 – Shostakovich “bears witness” to his times
PART THREE
00:00 – Shostakovich Trio No. 2 (Netanel Draiblate/Benjamin Capps/Alexander Shtarkman)
30:00 – Volkov on Shostakovich and Jewish music
