"I highly recommend Ian MacDonald's book The New
Shostakovich.
It is one of the best biographies of Dmitri
Shostakovich I have read."
Maxim Shostakovich
"Dear Mr
MacDonald, thank you for your wonderful book on DDS..."
Note to
the author from Vladimir Ashkenazy
"I have read your excellent
book The New Shostakovich...
My dear friend Maxim
Shostakovich reminded me about the book
by saying: 'It is the best
book written about my father...'"
Letter to the author from Seppo
Heikinheimo
"Remarkable ... gets under the skin of Shostakovich and
understands
the perversity of the Soviet system and what it has
inflicted on humanity."
Letter to the author from Semyon
Bychkov
"The best biography of the composer available.
A formal lesson to Western writers on post-1917 Russia,
whether
their subject is music or life itself."
Andrei Navrozov
"Brilliant."
Marina Ledin
"Compelling
... a portrait of a creative artist
tormented and harried by the
random assaults of Stalinism."
Andrew Clements
"Superb ... This compassionate and very knowledgeable book
is
humbling in its understanding of how far an individual can be pushed
by the coercive forces of a grotesque, perhaps insane, authority."
Sydney Morning Herald
"Persuasively argued and forceful
...
A valid, politically driven reconsideration of the composer's
works."
Harlow Robinson, New York Times Review of Books
"A monumental achievement
... impressive evidence that the
authentic Shostakovich
is not the same composer described by
official Soviet propaganda."
Steve Martland
"A fine
reassessment and excellent biography ... Not only a good read but
also
about as objective as it is possible to be now. A remarkable
achievement."
Manchester Evening News
"Fascinating
... Manages, better than any previous publication,
to make
connections between Shostakovich's work and the works
of other
Soviet artists whom he admired and was influenced by."
Times
Educational Supplement
"Breathes new life into the story ...
The underlying thesis,
that an understanding of Shostakovich's
music is impossible without a proper
appreciation of its social and
historical context, is incontrovertible."
New Statesman
"Anyone concerned with Soviet music, twentieth-century music,
arts in politics, and politics in art, will be interested in this
book."
Gunther Schuller
"The most thorough study of
this enigmatic figure
yet undertaken in English (or Russian, for
that matter)."
Richard Dyer, Boston Sunday Globe
"Mr
MacDonald has gone some way to solving
what could be described as
the Enigma Variations of Russian music."
Liverpool Daily
Post
"A considerable tour de force of musical and social
analysis
which will hold its own for some time to come."
Norman Lebrecht
"A work of great energy and passion ... a
crusading book."
Tempo
"Riveting... harrowing...
superb."
Classic CD
"Clearly organized and superbly
written ... If you really want to hear
Shostakovich's music and
understand what is going on beyond the notes,
you must read The New
Shostakovich."
American Record Guide