Ever since I first took a gander at the final movement of his 5th symphony I knew i was in for something great. Shostakovich has been steadily moving up my list of favourite composers and cementing my affinity for russian composers. and what a life he lead!

anyone have any love for the fellow? displeasure perhaps? both (if that could somehow be the case)?

The 5th is commonly subtitled "A Soviet Artist's Reply to Just Criticism". What do you make of that?

In 1936, being denounced by the Soviet press was a very bad omen.

Many critics now argue that the subtitle was sarcastic, but sarcasm in that situation would have been unwise.

But D was also a great fan of satirical writings. The way I see it is that it is both an envigorating piece of music as well as a bit of a raspberry thrown toward the Iron 'stache. A straight-man joke with Stalin as the punch-line, one that could easily go over one's head (as it did to soviet officials) but a wry wink to the rest.

Sounds like a very dangerous game.

True, but what wasn't in those enlightened times?

He is often described as a nervous, chain-smoking type.

I read that for a time he slept on the landing outside his apartment, so that if the KGB came at night it wouldn't disturb his family. But I can imagine that being an ironical gesture.

Could we chip in and get this kid a new fiddle to replace that Sears-Roebuck box?

Shostakovich actually wrote a musical in 1959. The British put it on recently and called it an "opera,"
but if you heard it, I think you'd call it a musical.

It's about a new apartment complex that was under construction at the time, and everyone was
trying to get into the aprtments, because of the housing shortage. People were willing to bribe
anybody, sleep with anybody, or back-stab anybody. Imagine the hijinks.

Here's a synopsis from the program for the British production:

"The story centres around a new housing estate, called Cheryomushki, which is being constructed
on the outskirts of Moscow, and its crowd of aspiring tenants. The tenants are a varied group of Soviet types."

"First we meet Lusya, the buxom construction worker and her wimpy boyfriend Sergei. Sergei is
chauffeur to the local party boss, Drebednyov, whose greedy mistress is keen to use Drebednyov's
influence to get herself installed in an extra-large, four-room flat."

"Meanwhile, the estate's caretaker, Barabashkin, holds all the keys to the new flats, and expects
the tenants to bribe him with bottles of vodka before he will hand the keys over. The tenants that have
been promised new flats in Cheryomushki include a young museum guide, Sasha, and his wife,
who have no home of their own and have to seize intimate moments in the Metro station or in corners
of the museum."

"Sasha's colleague, Lidochka, has also been promised a new flat, even though her father does not
want to move from their old home in central Moscow because he feels lost in the concrete splendour
of the new housing suburb. Meanwhile, Lidochka is preoccupied with her desire to find a perfect partner,
and catches the eye of a feckless young man called Boris."

"In the course of the opera, party boss Drebednyov tries to cheat Lidochka and her father out of their flat,
so that his mistress will get her four rooms. However, Lusya rallies all the tenants to complain
to the authorities. Drebednyov's dastardly scheme is foiled, and he and the greedy caretaker are demoted
to floor sweepers. Meanwhile, after a rocky start and a number of rows, Lidochka and Boris are united
in everlasting love. As Jane Austen once said: "The good end happily, and the bad unhappily." "

Here's a picture of the Cheryomushki apartment complex (notice the ample space for hanging laundary on the balconies).
I lived in a dormitory right near there back in 1979:

The record will show that it was a publicist for the Pimlico Opera--not the pinhed--who mistook Wilde for Jane Austen.