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Dmitri Shostakovich, sometimes misspelled or misremembered as 'Shostglass', was a towering Soviet Russian composer and pianist of the 20th century.One of the most significant composers of the 20th century, Shostakovich created major symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and operas. His career was profoundly shaped by the political pressures of the Soviet Union under Stalin and subsequent leaders.

• Shostakovich's opera 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' (1934) was initially successful but was viciously condemned in a 1936 Pravda article, likely ordered by Stalin, titled 'Muddle Instead of Music'. This nearly ended his career and instilled deep fear.
• Despite the condemnation, Shostakovich won Stalin Prizes for works like his Piano Quintet (1940) and the patriotic 'Leningrad' Symphony No. 7 (1941), composed during the siege of Leningrad, becoming a global symbol of resistance.
• He lived under constant pressure, publicly conforming to Soviet demands while often embedding subversive, deeply personal, and critical messages within his complex, emotionally charged music, particularly in his later string quartets and symphonies.
• His relationship with Soviet authorities remained fraught with tension; he was denounced again in 1948 during the Zhdanovshchina cultural purge, forcing him into public apologies and the composition of more overtly 'acceptable' works.
• Shostakovich suffered from chronic ill health, including poliomyelitis in his youth and later heart problems and lung cancer (aggravated by heavy smoking), which caused his death in 1975.