Apartment

 The front door, upholstered in brown leatherette for warmth and soundproofing, is nothing out of the ordinary, just the same as thousands of similar doors in Moscow during the 1960s and 1970s.

 This bright room with large windows is furnished with exquisitely decorated light-coloured wooden cupboards made at the request of Irina Antonovna, the composer’s wife.

 Dmitri Dmitriyevich was very lax about inviting guests and did not tell his family until the last minute. “He would say, so-and-so is coming today…,” recalls Irina Antonovna Shostakovich. “He liked simple food, such as ravioli.”

 The study, the largest room in the apartment, served as a place for home rehearsals and composing music. Here items, sheet music, books, manuscripts and papers were kept in meticulous order, just like Shostakovich’s daily routine.