Jazzy Shostakovich

Wed. 01/18 9a: A systematic assault on a mind is a hard thing to track. But photographs of Dmitri Shostakovich over the years do seem to tell a story. Into his late 20s, he kept a kind of impish Harry Potter youthfulness about him, including the owl glasses. But gradually, as the official scolding from Moscow turned into harassment and then to abuse and threats, Shostakovich changed. 

His face grew grim and strained. In today's show, a snapshot of the young Shostakovich, before fear became part of his daily life. We'll hear his Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 from Los Angeles.