Word: pianos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...even the most robust of classical labels, but though Virgin Classics may not occupy the uppermost rung in term of financial clout and big-name draws, it has championed several relatively unknown ensembles which can outplay the competition, big label or not. A good example is the Brahms piano quartet cycle recorded by Domus, which outshines Sony's offering with a super-powerhouse lineup of Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emanuel...
...first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Cliburn was front-page news, the cultural vanquisher of the Red Menace; in New York City he was given a ticker-tape parade. At the age of 23, Cliburn found himself the most famous pianist since Paderewski, his very name synonymous with piano playing. His future as a major figure in American music seemed secure...
...Fort Worth, Texas, home he still shares with his mother and first teacher, Rildia Bee Cliburn, now 97. He re-emerged in 1987 for a few tantalizing concerto performances. Now, at 60, Cliburn has embarked on his first national tour in 16 years with a program featuring two piano concertos, Tchaikovsky's First and Rachmaninoff's Third, as well as an orchestral performance of Copland's Lincoln Portrait with himself as narrator. He is accompanied by the Moscow Philharmonic...
...life was never geared to the concert stage," said Cliburn in an interview before the tour began. "My life was always bigger than the stage." He would rather attend the opera, he said, than play the piano in public, and in conversation he preferred repeating his mother's homey aphorisms ("Choose carefully which works to learn, and never let them go; they will always be your friends") to debating the merits of competing pianists. Even though he was going back on tour, Cliburn seemed if anything less interested in the life of a traveling virtuoso than he had in years...
...Honest Abe's noble sentiments in a Texas twang. And once he wrapped his huge hands around the thundering opening chords of the Tchaikovsky, it appeared that Cliburn really was back. The formidable technique was still there, and the distinctive ringing tone. Cliburn really is a throwback to the piano's Golden Age of blazing virtuosity and emotional extravagance. He remains one of the handful of players -- and just about the only American -- who can conjure up the world of Josef Lhevinne, Rachmaninoff and Horowitz...