Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

~ Solomon Volkov (Author), Dmitri Shostakovich (Composer)
Key Phrases: historic resolution, famous humanists, The Nose, Lady Macbeth, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'I do not know of a musician who will not read it with compassion and admiration' Andre Previn" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

This is the powerful memoirs which an ailing Dmitri Shostakovich dictated to a young Russian musicologist, Solomon Volkov. When it was first published in 1979, it became an international bestseller. This 25th anniversary edition includes a new foreword by Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as black-and-white photos. "Testimony changed the perception of Shostakovich's life and work dramatically, and influenced innumerable performances of his music." - New Grove Dictionary

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Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 25 Anv edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087910998X
• ISBN-13: 978-0879109981
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #188,612 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Problematic - but important nonetheless, July 23, 2001

By	I. J. J. Nieuwland "Ilja Nieuwland" (Amsterdam) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

Instead of flaming one another on the topic of 'Testimony' based on our political preference, we might do better looking at the quality of the text itself. Because whether it is Dmitri Shostakovich' own story or a first-person novel by Volkov, this is a deeply engrossing, chillingly emotional and intensely tragic tale about the cost of fame in the Stalin years. And whether the precise details of the story are accurate or not, I have little doubt - also based on other 'testimonies' - that in that respect this one hits the nail on the head. The matter of its relation to Shostakovich' music is more problematic. Statements often quite explicitly contradict earlier opinions by Shostakovich, even if there seems no political reason for doing this. See, for instance, his description of the first symphony. I can hardly imagine any conspiracy being at work here - there are far more explicit condemnations of the Soviet Union to be found. As a document of cultural history, this is a very important text, and anyone interested in Shostakovich, his life, and his work, will be forced to form an opinion about 'Testimony'

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable document, June 21, 2002

By	"m_a_portnoi" (Brewster, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

Testimony is 276 pages of a "shackled genius" (as Solzhenitsyn described him) being truly and 100% candid for the first time in his adult life. Compiled through interviews with the much-maligned Solomon Volkov, Shostakovich requested that they be published "after my death, after my death" for good reason.
For the more casual reader, a fabulous read; gripping, powerful, shattering. And educational, too.
For the historian or musicologist, one sees through "Testimony" the society Shostakovich and his colleagues lived in, and composed in.
For the musician, the groundwork is laid for gaining insight to Shostakovich the person, and thus the basic aspects of the composer's music: bitterness, sarcasm, satire, quotation, and a very direct, pointed language.
To consider the controversy regarding this book's "authenticity," I direct your attention to Ho & Feofanov's "Shostakovich Reconsidered," which is a truly enlightening work, both about "Testimony" and Shostakovich in general. Elizabeth Wilson's book is remarkable, too.

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Testimony is authentic and accurate, March 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

From 1992 to 1998, Dmitry Feofanov and I thoroughly researched the authenticity and accuracy of Testimony, including conducting interviews with Solomon Volkov, Maxim and Galina Shostakovich, and many others. In a forthcoming book, Shostakovich Reconsidered (Toccata Press, 1998), we reveal how opponents of the Shostakovich memoirs have failed to report all of the facts, have taken things out of proper context, and, above all, have remained curiously silent on the wealth of information that corroborates Testimony. (Allan B. Ho)