About the Author

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician and writer of short stories and plays, including the masterpieces: 'Uncle Vanya', 'The Seagull', and 'The Cherry Orchard'. Rosamund Bartlett is the author of Shostakovich in Context (OUP, 2000) and Wagner and Russia (CUP, 1995). She is currently working on a biography of Anton Chekhov that will be published by Simon & Schuster. Anthony Phillips is the translator of the letters between Dmitry Shostakovich and Isaak Gilkman that were published as Story of a Friendship (Faber, 2001/ Cornell UP, 2001)