On the coda of the Shostakovich Fifth

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From Leonard Bernstein's parts for the Shostakovich Fifth.

A Cultural Comment at the New Yorker website.

Footnote: Shostakovich's 1973 visit to the Met is documented in a richly detailed 1994 Opera News article by David J. Baker, titled "It Vas Premiere: The Night Shostakovich Came to the Met." Baker's primary source was Schuyler Chapin, then the Met's general manager, who recalled how the company went into a complete tizzy when they realized that the great Shostakovich was going to attend a routine mid-run performance of Aida. When I was researching The Rest Is Noise, I spoke with Alexander Dunkel, who served as Shostakovich's translator during the 1973 trip. Dunkel felt that a few details in Chapin's account were exaggerated — the auditorium was mostly empty at the time of the trumpet salute, not full, as Chapin said — but corroborated the essentials. Shostakovich was, indeed, deeply touched by the gesture.