"Simply Brilliant...Ashkenazy is in complete control of every facet of these intriguing, deceptively modest pieces, whose whole is far greater than the sum of the parts; both the seriousness with which he has tackled his project and the unqualified success of the results are hugely impressive." The Guardian CD of the week.

An Interview with Vladimir Ashkenazy about Shostakovich and his Preludes and Fugues.
Ashkenazy was talking to Andrew Cornall, producer.

What Shostakovich's music means to Ashkenazy

Stories of Shostakovich's difficult life

The Preludes and Fugues; how Ashkenazy came to know, learn and love them

Ashkenazy hears of Shostakovich as a boy

Duality in Soviet life and in the life and music of Shostakovich

The effect of ideology on the creative artist

Ashkenazy on his three favourite Preludes and Fugues