... Maxim and Galina Shostakovich. At the age of 13, Shostakovich proved his musical talents by attending the Petrograd Conservatory where he studied piano and composition. In 1932, his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District displeased Joseph Stalin. The Soviet leader's reaction nearly had Shostakovich imprisoned. To protect himself, Shostakovich began writing works that glorified Soviet life and history. He would ... the innocent people in the oppressed Soviet Union. Dmitri Shostakovich had the tough task of being a musical celebrity during the height of the Soviet Union. After his con...

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