麻豆社

Professor Robert Winston brings a scientist's ear to his passion for music, exploring the medical histories of great composers and how illness affected the music they wrote.

Shostakovich was the most celebrated musical icon of the Russian Soviet state. But he had an uneasy relationship with the political authorities. He was officially denounced several times, once by Stalin himself, friends and colleagues were arrested, and it's claimed that his works often betray a hidden, subversive political message. Professor Robert Winston examines the psychological damage that could have been caused by a composer trying to serve both Stalin's brutal, totalitarian regime and his own creative muse.

Producer: Chris Taylor.