Confronting Anti-Semitism In Russia, In Words And Then Music
After the death of Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko on April 1, we revisit a 2000 feature about his most famous work, 'Babi Yar,' and the collaboration it inspired with composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
Editor's note: This feature, reported by Alex van Oss, first appeared on All Things Considered on June 23, 2000. It aired in advance of a performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Yuri Temirkanov — with poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko reading his own "Babi Yar" as part of the performance.
Yevtushenko died on April 1, 2017.
During the 1950s and early '60s, the Soviet Union went through a period called "the thaw." For a time, there was less censorship, abstract art to create a new work: his Thirteenth Symphony.
