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I also enjoy and share your passion about the great Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.

Here is a little known fact: he was a certified soccer referee! Despite not being seen as a sports enthusiast, he loved soccer and would even referee matches. He often went to Zenit Leningrad with his son.

He also had other surprising traits. Shostakovich was obsessed with cleanliness, testing the postal service by sending cards to himself. He was a gifted pianist but stopped performing due to a hand injury.

Additionally, he was a keen photographer, publishing a book of his photographs.

His symphonies (except number 1) are magnificent, scary, beautiful and full of nerve! No-one has painted such a close self portrait with instruments as he did.

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Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this, Niclas! I never came across any of this amazing information while researching Shostakovich! Perhaps we can collaborate in the future? :))

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There are even pictures of him as a referee! :-)

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Thank you for sharing yet again another interesting classical composer! It’s always fun to read your writings!

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Thank you for reading, ate!!

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