Cliburn once said that the goal of his artistic life was bringing pleasure to those who heard him play.
“You’re always hoping to play well. And if you don’t play well, YOU are the unhappiest person. So you want to please your audience.”
And please his audiences he did.
Van Cliburn was 23 years old when he performed in the famous Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, in April of 1958. This was at the height of the Cold War period between the then Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets had, only months earlier, launched the first orbiting earth satellite, Sputnik One. The Tchaikovsky competition was intended to also demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority.
But Cliburn’s performances, including this music, the Tchaikowsky Piano Concerto No.1, had the Russian audience chanting “First Prize! First Prize!”
There was concern about awarding first prize to an American, but when premier Nikita Khruschev was approached for his permission, he asked “Was he the Best? Then give it to him.”
His victory launched a career that made him unusually famous for a classical musician. He also became a hero to music-loving people in the former Soviet Union.
Following the competition, a ticker tape parade in New York’s Lower Manhattan, with 100,000 people lining the streets, welcomed him back to the United States.
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2013-11-25
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