Day after day, the small, drab figure in the dark suit hunched forward in the front row of the gallery listening tensely. Sometimes he tapped his fingers nervously against his cheek; occasionally he nodded his head rhythmically in time with the music. In the whole of his productive career, remarked Soviet Composer Dmitry Shostakovich, he had "never heard so many of my works performed in so short a period." This year's Edinburgh Festival was offering no fewer than 25 of his works in three weeks, including six of the symphonies, eight quartets, two concertos. Western observers got their best chance yet...
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