Comrade, keep a close
eye on that one: he is quite
defiant of our
socialist realism, and
the Party's just criticism.
Kyakuchuu
Author's Notes/Comments:
Based on the brutal criticism experienced by Dmitri Shostakovich after the premiere of his opera, Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District. Apparently, Joe Stalin was in attendance and disliked the loud passages in the sconre, and sneered at the romantic (or, dare I say it?, even the erotic) scenes. After Uncle Joe abruptly left during the performance, Pravda began its campaign against the composer. Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, however, was hailed as a great Soviet work of art, although we now know it contains---within the terms of the composer's musical language---some very anti-Soviet passages.
