Word: cliburn
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Dates: during 1958-1958
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...Cabled congratulations to Van Cliburn, 23-year-old U.S. pianist who won first prize in Moscow's International Tchaikovsky piano contest (see Music...
...Tchaikovsky State Conservatory echoed last week to the rubbery beat of Blue Moon and the striding chords of Embraceable You. Then a reedy Texas voice rose above the piano: "A-a-ah've got you un-dah mah skin!" The singer was long-legged, tousled Van Cliburn, 23, prize-winning pianist at the Tchaikovsky International Piano and Violin Festival (TIME, April 21 ), who had got under the Russian skin as no foreign artist had done in modern memory...
...nearly ten minutes the bravos echoed through the cavernous hall; finally the judges, in violation of the contest rules, permitted Cliburn to return to the stage for a second bow. Then the orchestra rose and joined the ovation. Backstage, the jurors, including famed Russian Pianist Emil Gilels, embraced Cliburn. Alexander Goldenweiser, octogenarian dean of Russian pianists, kept repeating one word: "Genius!" Hearing the news, the New York Philharmonic promptly signed Cliburn for four Manhattan concerts in the winter...
Lost Pounds. Still, with six of his rivals yet to play, Cliburn's victory was hardly assured; indeed, on his U.S. record, he could not have been expected to whip up such frenzy. Born in Shreveport, La., the son of an oil executive, Cliburn grew up in Kilgore, Texas, studied the piano with his mother, a onetime concert pianist named Rilda Bee. He had no other training until he enrolled at Manhattan's Juilliard School of Music in 1951 to study with Russian-born Teacher Rosina Lhevinne. He won the Leventritt Award for young pianists...
...trained pianist could be so good, who decided that he was ready for the big time. The night before Composer Dmitry Shostakovich was to hand out the first prize-25,000 rubles, or $6,250 at the official rate-Moscow leaked the winner's name: Van Cliburn. Said Pianist Cliburn: "I can't believe it." Then, noting the 10 lbs. he had lost during his harrowing two weeks of competition, he added: "I'd like to go back to Texas. I'm just about to break down...