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Soviet composer and pianist, among the most significant musical figures of the 20th century.Shostakovich studied at the Petrograd Conservatory, gaining early fame with his First Symphony. His career was marked by alternating Soviet state approval and condemnation, particularly following the 1936 denunciation of his opera 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk'. He composed 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets, concertos, film scores, and chamber works, often embedding covert dissent against totalitarianism th...