[Daily Telegraph, 1 October 2005]

With Shostakovich's centenary approaching, Geoffrey Norris talks to two conductors about the composer's music and his difficult relationship with the Soviet authorities

Dmitry Shostakovich, one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, has always excited controversy - no more so than during the three decades since his death in 1975, when there have been conflicting interpretations of his attitude towards the Communist system under which he lived.