In London, an attempt to discredit Shostakovich. “The essence of the attack is that Shostakovich is unfit to stand comparison with Beethoven, and that placing them side by side merely emphasises Shostakovich’s shortcomings. But the campaign runs deeper than that, for what is being claimed is that few of Shostakovich’s works are worth performing at all, and that recent attempts to find coded anti-Stalinist messages in them – thereby making them seem emotionally ambiguous and thus more ‘interesting’ – are simply a waste of time.” – The Herald (Scotland)