Dmitri Shostakovich was born at Podolskaya street in Saint Petersburg, Russia on September 25, 1906.
Dmitri's parents came from Siberia. His father was a biologist and engineer, and his mother was a pianist.
The Shostakovichs lived comfortably during Dmitri's early childhood, although this was to change after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
Dmitri displayed significant musical talent after he began piano lessons with his mother at the age of nine. He had an amazing musical memory and could play almost anything he knew by ear.
In 1919, at the age of thirteen, Dmitri was allowed to enter the Petrograd Conservatory, where he studied the piano and composition. (St. Petersburg was called Petrograd between 1914 and 1924.)
When Shostakovich's father died in 1922 his family felt the pinch. The 16-year-old Dmitri went out and got himself a job as a cinema pianist playing music to accompany the silent films.
After graduation, Shostakovich initially embarked on a dual career as concert pianist and composer
Shostakovich's music is tonal end expressive, and sometimes highly dramatic. He is best known for his fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets.
Shostakovich's first major musical achievement was the First Symphony (premiered 1926), written as his graduation piece at the age of nineteen.
His most important opera is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District which was first performed on January 22, 1934 at the Leningrad Maly Theatre. It was deemed to be very successful until Josef Stalin came to hear a performance. The Russian dictator did not enjoy the work, and he left during the performance. A few days later an article appeared in the Pravda newspaper, which said the opera was full of horrible music and noisy chords. Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was then suppressed as "too divorced from the proletariat," but revived in 1963 as Katerina Izmaylova.
Shostakovich's patriotic Symphony No. 7 marked a temporary return to favor. The premiere took place on August 9, 1942 during the Second World War, while Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) was under siege by Nazi German forces. The Russian composer had intended for the piece to be premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, but they had been evacuated because of the siege, along with the composer, and the world premiere was instead held in Kuybyshev (now Samara) where Shostakovich and his family had been relocated.
The Leningrad premiere was performed later by the surviving musicians of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra, supplemented with military performers. Most of the musicians were starving, and three died during rehearsals. Supported by a Soviet military offensive intended to silence German forces, the performance was a success, prompting an hour-long ovation. The symphony was broadcast to the German lines by loudspeaker as a form of psychological warfare.
The Festive Overture in A major, Op. 96, was written by Dmitri Shostakovich and premiered in 1954 at a concert held at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution (which took place in 1917. The work was later used as the theme music of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Major Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, sang a Shostakovich song, "My Homeland Hears", over the radio on his first space mission.
Dmitri Shostakovich was a timid, nervous man, who according to his daughter Galina was "obsessed with cleanliness."
Dmitri Shostakovich was so obsessive that he regularly sent cards to himself to test how well the postal service was working.
The obsessive Shostakovich insisted that all the clocks in his apartment had to be synchronized.
Shostakovich was fanatic about football. Galina recalled: "He not only knew every footballer's name by heart, but he also kept records to compare match results," especially of his team Zenith Leningrad.
The Russian composer was a qualified football referee.
Shostakovich had to endure much ill-health in his later years. He had poliomyelitis, which made it difficult for him to use his hands and legs. He suffered several heart attacks, and started to lose his sight.
Shostakovich died of lung cancer on August 9, 1975. A civic funeral was conducted and he was interred in the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow.
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| Shostakovich in 1950. By Fotothek |
Dmitri's parents came from Siberia. His father was a biologist and engineer, and his mother was a pianist.
The Shostakovichs lived comfortably during Dmitri's early childhood, although this was to change after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
Dmitri displayed significant musical talent after he began piano lessons with his mother at the age of nine. He had an amazing musical memory and could play almost anything he knew by ear.
In 1919, at the age of thirteen, Dmitri was allowed to enter the Petrograd Conservatory, where he studied the piano and composition. (St. Petersburg was called Petrograd between 1914 and 1924.)
When Shostakovich's father died in 1922 his family felt the pinch. The 16-year-old Dmitri went out and got himself a job as a cinema pianist playing music to accompany the silent films.
 |
| Shostakovich in 1925 |
After graduation, Shostakovich initially embarked on a dual career as concert pianist and composer
WORKS
Shostakovich's first major musical achievement was the First Symphony (premiered 1926), written as his graduation piece at the age of nineteen.
His most important opera is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District which was first performed on January 22, 1934 at the Leningrad Maly Theatre. It was deemed to be very successful until Josef Stalin came to hear a performance. The Russian dictator did not enjoy the work, and he left during the performance. A few days later an article appeared in the Pravda newspaper, which said the opera was full of horrible music and noisy chords. Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was then suppressed as "too divorced from the proletariat," but revived in 1963 as Katerina Izmaylova.
 |
| December 2014 production By Lorenzo Gaudenzi |
Shostakovich's patriotic Symphony No. 7 marked a temporary return to favor. The premiere took place on August 9, 1942 during the Second World War, while Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) was under siege by Nazi German forces. The Russian composer had intended for the piece to be premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, but they had been evacuated because of the siege, along with the composer, and the world premiere was instead held in Kuybyshev (now Samara) where Shostakovich and his family had been relocated.
The Leningrad premiere was performed later by the surviving musicians of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra, supplemented with military performers. Most of the musicians were starving, and three died during rehearsals. Supported by a Soviet military offensive intended to silence German forces, the performance was a success, prompting an hour-long ovation. The symphony was broadcast to the German lines by loudspeaker as a form of psychological warfare.
The Festive Overture in A major, Op. 96, was written by Dmitri Shostakovich and premiered in 1954 at a concert held at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution (which took place in 1917. The work was later used as the theme music of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Major Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, sang a Shostakovich song, "My Homeland Hears", over the radio on his first space mission.
PERSONAL LIFE
Dmitri Shostakovich was a timid, nervous man, who according to his daughter Galina was "obsessed with cleanliness."
 |
| Shostakovich in 1950. By Deutsche Fotothek, |
Dmitri Shostakovich was so obsessive that he regularly sent cards to himself to test how well the postal service was working.
The obsessive Shostakovich insisted that all the clocks in his apartment had to be synchronized.
Shostakovich was fanatic about football. Galina recalled: "He not only knew every footballer's name by heart, but he also kept records to compare match results," especially of his team Zenith Leningrad.
The Russian composer was a qualified football referee.
LAST YEARS AND DEATH
Shostakovich had to endure much ill-health in his later years. He had poliomyelitis, which made it difficult for him to use his hands and legs. He suffered several heart attacks, and started to lose his sight.
Shostakovich died of lung cancer on August 9, 1975. A civic funeral was conducted and he was interred in the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow.
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