#dsch posts again

The outstanding conductor and Shostakovich interpreter Mariss Jansons has died at the age of 77 in St. Petersburg, according to a family friend. The cause of death was acute heart failure. He was born in Latvia on 14 January 1943.

Mariss Jansons was a graduate of the Leningrad State Conservatory, a student of Yevgeny Mravinsky. In 2005 he received a Grammy Award for his interpretation of Shostakovich's 13th Symphony.

Dmitri Shostakovich died on this date in 1975.

At the invitation of Conductor Seiji Ozawa, Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich were both performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood when Shostakovich passed away. News that Shostakovich had died was received by Rostropovich during the intermission. Rostropovich was scheduled to conduct Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony in the second half of the programme.

See the attached announcement by Seiji Ozawa to the stunned crowd (courtesy of the BSO Archives).

More from the BSO: "At the close of an emotion-packed performance of the late composer's symphony, Maestro Rostropovich, with tears in his eyes, kissed the score and replaced it on the conductor's stand."

See the attached statement by Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich regarding the death of Shostakovich (courtesy of the BSO Archives).

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Roomie: oh, you playing a horror game? which one?

Despite its cuddly appearance

beneath those fluffy feathers, the Shostakovich is what we call