Word: cliburn
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Dates: during 1958-1958
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Pianist Van Cliburn: he accomplished more than a corps of diplomats in finding at least one common ground on which it is possible to talk to the Russians...
Still cashing in on his Moscow triumph, Pianist Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. boosted his standard concert fee to $4,000 for an afternoon appearance at the University of Texas, charged $500 for letting students into his morning rehearsal, and picked up $6,000 more for an extra performance later. Delighted to be paying so much for their music, Texans named Van an admiral in the Texas navy...
Amid the jollity of a Dallas wingding, wise old Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, 76, plunked down at a handy piano with the boyish, mop-topped guest of honor, added an uneasy basso ostinato to the sure-handed treble provided by Van Cliburn. Texas-bred Van, drawled Sam, is "a glowing symbol of the 98½% of American boys who are good...
Doing S.R.O. business as usual, beanpole Piano Prodigy Van Cliburn, 24, wowed a packed throng in Kansas City, caused a scattering of academic shudders with his theories of musicianship ("If a performer has to sacrifice something, he should sacrifice the notes rather than the inspiration"), allowed that he had time to cultivate some home-grown corn: "Jazz is a kind of form, not difficult, that helps make the evaluation of classical music even higher. I play it myself to relax...
Before his Moscow triumph, Cliburn was getting fees of $500 to $750 per concert; now he asks $3,500, has made as much as $15,000 for a pair of concerts (in the Hollywood Bowl). This year Van stands to make $125,000 from concerts. TV appearances and recordings. His RCA Victor recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, since its appearance in midsummer, has consistently hovered at or near the top of the LP sales charts alongside Johnny Mathis and South Pacific; by year's end it may well sell close to 1,000,000 copies...