We hope you like Dmitri Shostakovich as much as we do, folks, because Chicago's about to get a heavy dose of our favorite Russian composer. It will all be tied to the citywide festival "The Soviet Arts Experience," which got underway without much fanfare on October 1. You can forgive the quiet opening given that the inaugural event was a performance by the Tokyo String Quartet of music by Robert Schumann (German, died 61 years before the Bolshevik Revolution), Mozart (born in Salzburg, died almost 126 years before Soviet takeover), and the young Lera Auerbach (Russian! And she lived under Soviet rule until she was 18!). more ›

The career of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), which got underway shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, can be seen broadly as cycling between angering the Soviet authorities and getting back in their good graces. The paper trail of the actual intentions behind his various pieces of music is thin and often contains an array of dubious patriotic claims. That was, of course, out of necessity. Being on the wrong side of Stalin often led to the gulag, or worse. more ›

This Saturday at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform two of Dmitri Shostakovich's most famous works, the Symphony No. 5 in D Minor and the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor. The programming of these two pieces should satisfy Shostakovich fans, but it'll also serve as a concise introduction to two sides of the Russian great's music. more ›

The Grant Park Music Festival's 75th season gets started tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The anniversary celebration kicks off with concerts on Wednesday and Friday at the Pritzker Pavilion and on Saturday in the Harris Theater. more ›

Problem: You want to treat your mom to some classy tunes this Sunday, but you don't know which concert to see. more ›