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An American Pianist Abroad - The Van Cliburn Story
It’s hard to imagine a Texan gaining overnight fame and nationwide acclaim in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. At the first Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, Texan Van Cliburn's Moscow debut created a much-needed thaw in the bitter Cold War as the musical world of Russia saw their political foe, America, in a new light. As he finished his performance with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the audience gave him an eight minute standing ovation, and he was awarded the grand prize. He returned to the States a national hero, was thrown a ticker-tape parade in New York, and was named “The Texan who Conquered Russia” by Time Magazine.
Harvey Lavan Cliburn, A.K.A. Van Cliburn, was born in Louisiana, and he moved to Texas with this family at the age of six. His mother was a piano teacher who had been taught by a student of Franz Liszt, and as a young child, Van Cliburn intently listened to her as she taught her students. One day, his mother had finished teaching a pupil when she heard sounds coming from the piano. Thinking that the student had come back, she found her three-year-old son mimicking the music he heard the student play. Soon, Van Cliburn’s mother began giving him lessons, too. At the age of 17, Van Cliburn was accepted to Juilliard and at the age of 23, he made his way to Moscow to participate in the competition that would make him famous worldwide. An ulterior motive of the International Tchaikovsky Competition was to show the cultural superiority of Soviet Russia. Little did anyone suspect that an American would be the undisputed winner! When the judges hesitated to make Van Cliburn the winner, they approached Khrushchev, who responded “Is he the best? Then give him the prize!”
Back home, he had the unique opportunity of performing for every U.S. President from Truman to Obama. Van Cliburn returned to Moscow many times; after his first trip, he’d developed a deep attachment to his fans and his fans in turn longed for him. He was welcome there, no matter what the state of political tensions. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Cliburn's affection for the Soviet people—and theirs for him—was notable in its warmth during a prolonged period of superpower strain."