Americas

Home page

Americas

Famed American Pianist Van Cliburn Dies

27 February 2013 22:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The internationally acclaimed American classical pianist Van Cliburn, who won the first Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the height of the Cold War propelling him to worldwide fame, died Wednesday from bone cancer at the age of 78, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

Cliburn passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas surrounded by loved ones, said his publicist and longtime friend Mary Lou Falcone, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Cliburn was 23 when he won the Moscow Tchaikovsky competition, six months after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite to go into orbit, igniting the space race and heating up the Cold War.

At a Kremlin reception after Cliburn won, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hugged the pianist, asking “Why are you so tall?” Cliburn answered, “Because I am from Texas,” The New York Times reported.

At first, Cliburn wasn’t aware of the political ramifications of his victory at the Tchaikovsky competition.

“Oh, I never thought about all that,” Cliburn recalled in a 2008 interview with The Times. “I was just so involved with the sweet and friendly people who were so passionate about music.”

The Russians, he said, “reminded me of Texans.”

Cliburn returned home to New York City a hero and was greeted by thousands of people lining the streets during a ticker-tape parade, the first ever for a classical musician.

He graced the cover of Time magazine which proclaimed him “The Texan Who Conquered Russia.”

Cliburn’s 1958 album of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, recorded with Russian conductor Kirill Kondrashin, became the first classical album to sell more than 1 million copies and reach platinum status.

He helped young musicians throughout the world with the Van Cliburn International Music Competition, which was started in 1962.

Cliburn played at a White House state dinner in 1987 during Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to Washington and Gorbachev was so moved, he leapt to his feet to give Cliburn a bear-hug and kisses on the cheeks.