A hundred years after his birth, Shostakovich is still vehemently dividing critics

Gerard McBurney [The Guardian, 14 January 2006]

The 25th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich coincided with the millennium, and had its own share of celebrations with a wealth of concerts, festivals, broadcasts and books. Now along comes the centenary of his birth in 1906; Manchester and London mark the occasion with two complete cycles of his 15 symphonies given by six different orchestras, there are swathes of chamber music, plenty of new recordings and, on the way, a revised and expanded version of Elizabeth Wilson's indispensible study, Shostakovich: A Life Remembered.

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