Nearly the only photo in which I’ve seen the great Shostakovich appear cheerful.

Oh to have been a fly on the wall listening to what he and Ben Britten had to say to one another…

I’m currently learning one of the fugues from DS’s stupendous “24 Preludes and Fugues,” Opus 87 (the one in C-sharp minor). And remembering the performance I attended of Alexander Melnikov playing the second half of those at Middlebury College. (I can’t recommend highly enough his recording of the complete set, by the way.)