@Magill It's hard for me to say anything. You see, the 1990s for me was a hard time, because my whole world was turned upside down, everything I valued was painted black, anathematized, but this was not what I knew firsthand. I am not saying everything was great, but... Then at some point the need to understand who and why did this, became too pressing and I studied the statistics. They are published, just not publicized. They represent a very different picture than the one painted by the likes of the Nobel prize winner Solzhenitsin, but unlike the writings by Solzhenitsin, these are well documented historic studies. Then I read some memoirs and analytics. People write all sorts of stuff, some liked it, some didn't, but they write about experiences and corroborate them with evidence. There is no question that a lot of what you probably know and some of what I know about those times is not true. But I think, having lived in the place, I understand it a little better... It's not all black and white. I see a lot of drawbacks, but a lot of what I've seen makes a lot of sense. I don't know much about Sofronitsky, to be honest. What I know is that he liked to perform in Scriabin's house, just didn't like to be recorded, and the place is unfortunately in Moscow, much as some might want it to be somewhere in NYC. It didn't belong to him, it's a museum, but the place was dear to him nevertheless. I know that Rachmaninov struggled in immigration. I can totally empathize with those folks whose world was turned upside down in 1917. I had to choose too. But my grandparents on both sides are of a peasant descent, they were able to receive a free university education and became teachers, doctors and journalists, so did my parents, but they went for engineering, and I have a Ph.D. This would not have been remotely possible prior to 1917. Rachmaninov did well eventually in the US, most importantly, he found an inspiration to write Symphonic dances, his last and favourite composition. Some people say they can't create in immigration. Did you know that Rach sent money to the Soviet Union during the war? Read Chopin's letters, they might help you understand what it feels like to be in this position. Read Wagner, how he missed his Germany. Prokofiev chose to return and did very well, blossomed, until he was repressed by Asafiev and Muradeli. I am not sure what happened to his ex-wife, she was apparently in Gulag for a couple of years. As for Sofronitsky, he could have stayed in Paris, but he didn't. He could have evacuated from Leningrad, but chose to stay. He was eventually evacuated in 1942 and worked in Moscow as a conservatory professor, and so did Shostakovich. Shostakovich had a hard time, honestly, I think "chaos instead of music" and especially "the ballet falseness" were very unfair and very dangerous, although I disagree with his view of Ekaterina Izmailova, trust me SafeSport would not approve of it either, and I am not a fan of most of his music. Evidence points in the direction of Zhdanov, something here for you to read between the lines. But read his Evidence, read about what he experienced as a young musician prior and soon after the revolution and what he says about Glazunov. You know, I am not the best person to turn to for support of your point of view, simply because I don't see it the same way. To me it's much deeper than Stalin = evil, USSR = evil, Russia = evil but not as much, but, hey, still very evil, but I am sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to talk to you about it.
, still worth listening. I mean it depends how much noise one can tolerate, but worth at least listening once, then one can decide.
), I totally agree with everything you say. But life is short, there are other things to experience, and I am kind of at the "move on" stage at the moment... 
. We need that loud, fast music on the ice to stave off hypothermia 
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