Although I haven't heard the Naxos disc of Shostakovich "light music"
that Ron talked about, I have heard the jazz suites and the Tahiti Trot
on a disc by Chailly.  The music is indeed enjoyable and stands in
contrast to his very serious symphonies.

However, even as a fan of his I don't find this music very convincing.
Perhaps it is because I am trained to expect the anguish and monumentality
of the symphonies and quartets etc.  But I think it is not this.  I
prefer the music of burlesque and macabre that one finds in various works
to these attempts--enjoyable as they are.

I think Shostakovech could write what was called for.  He could crank
out music acceptable to the authorities, he could write film music and
so forth.  In this instance he chooses to write in something similar to
a jazz idiom though it certainly isn't jazz in any sense that I understand
it: harmonies, doesn't swing, etc.

To me it sounds a bit like warmed over Weill.

I don't mean this to be argumentative.  Like Ron, I enjoy this disc on
the rate occasions when I put it on, and appreciated his post since it
gave me a reason to play and enjoy it last night.  And I am delighted
that Ron has been discovering and enjoying DSCH.  But, in the end, I
don't think he is a "light" personality and he would not be the composer
I would turn to lighten my own mood.

Ed