First published in 1979, this controversial book still heats conversations about the composer Shostakovich and his embittered views on Stalin's regime. In it, Shostakovich confesses to his friend Volkov that he involuntarily played the role of a loyal spokesperson for the Soviet Union. Unsurprisingly, Volkov's book was attacked by skeptics and denounced by Stalinists, who called it a forgery.  (RUS93, $20.00)

Opera