A review by libscote
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.75

This book is both a biography of Shostakovich and a look at the history of Russian and St. Petersburg, particularly during the 1920s-1950s. For me, I hadn't quite realized how much Stalin's purges put Russia at a disadvantage going into World War II. I hadn't connected the two periods in time in my head the way this book does. Sometimes it feels like the Allies won World War II through luck. I thought I played part of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in high school, which is part of why I wanted to read this book. I also love Russian history, so that appeal was there as well. I'm not certain it is the right composer for the piece I played, so if anyone knows any pieces that have two measures of bass clarinet solo with notes that run from below to above the staff, let me know!
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