Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr. (born July 12, 1934), is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at the age of twenty-three, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War.
Van Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and began taking piano lessons at the age of three from his mother, the former Rildia Bee O'Bryan, who herself had been instructed by Arthur Friedheim, a pupil of Franz Liszt. At six years old, Cliburn moved with his family to Kilgore, Texas, and at twelve he won a statewide piano competition which enabled him to debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He entered the Juilliard School at the age of seventeen, and studied under Rosina Lhévinne, who trained him in the tradition of the great Russian romantics. At twenty, Cliburn won the Leventritt Award, and made his Carnegie Hall debut.
It was his recognition in Moscow that propelled Cliburn to international fame. The first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 was an event designed to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority during the Cold War, on the heels of their technological victory with the Sputnik launch in October 1957. Cliburn's performance at the competition finale of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 earned him a standing ovation lasting eight minutes. When it was time to announce a winner, the judges were obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give first prize to an American. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev asked. "Then give him the prize!" Cliburn returned home to a ticker-tape parade in New York City, the only time the honor has been accorded a classical musician. His cover story in Time proclaimed him "The Texan Who Conquered Russia."
Van Cliburn - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, B-flat minor
Van Cliburn - Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 30
Van Cliburn - Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18
Van Cliburn - L.V. Beethoven Piano Concerto No
Van Cliburn - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No 1 in B-flat minor, Op 23
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no.3 Van Cliburn Kirill Kondrashin 1958
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Cliburn Kondrashin RCA Symphony
Stanislav Ioudenitch, Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1 - Van Cliburn 2001
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 1
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 2
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 4
(Cliburn)Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Mvt III
Van CLIBURN plays RACHMANINOV 3d Concerto VIDEO Moscow 1958 (1-5)
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 Cliburn Reiner Chicago Symphony
Van Cliburn - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, B-flat minor
Van Cliburn - Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 30
Van Cliburn - Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18
Van Cliburn - L.V. Beethoven Piano Concerto No
Van Cliburn - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No 1 in B-flat minor, Op 23
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no.3 Van Cliburn Kirill Kondrashin 1958
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Cliburn Kondrashin RCA Symphony
Stanislav Ioudenitch, Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1 - Van Cliburn 2001
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 1
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 2
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 - Van Cliburn - Part 4
(Cliburn)Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Mvt III
Van CLIBURN plays RACHMANINOV 3d Concerto VIDEO Moscow 1958 (1-5)
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 Cliburn Reiner Chicago Symphony
Piano Concerto No 1 Op 11 in Em - Chopin (Van Cliburn)
(Cliburn)Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Mvt I-1
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto no.3, Van Cliburn (complete)
Van Cliburn 2001 - Olga Kern - Rachmaninov No. 3
(Cliburn)Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 Mvt II
schumann, Piano Concerto In A Minor , 1st mov, Van Cliburn
Van Cliburn - Adagio from Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 by Edvard Grieg
Van Cliburn plays MacDowell - Piano Concerto No. 2: First Movement [Part 1/4]
Van Cliburn - Rachmaninov Concerto n.3 op.30 (Jul 23rd 1966).wmv
'Russians Conquered My Heart': Pianist Van Cliburn Reflects on 50 Years of Music Making
The Van Cliburn Collection
Van Cliburn master class in Moscow 2/2
Olga Kern, Van Cliburn 2001
My Precious Mother (Van Cliburn & Rildia Bee O'Bryan - 1992)
2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition khozyainov interview
Stanislav Ioudenitch - Van Cliburn 2001
2013 Cliburn Competitor Steven Lin
Van Cliburn Wins First International Tchaikovsky Competition (Discussion of 1958 Interview)
HIGHLIGHTS REEL: 2013 Cliburn Competition
Tiffany Poon plays on Van Cliburn's piano at Christie's
Van Cliburn, Cold War Musical Envoy, Dies At 78..
In Memoriam Van Cliburn
Van Cliburn about Elisso Bolkvadze
2013 Cliburn Competitor Nikolay Khozyainov
Van Cliburn Plays Hungarian Rhapsody No.12
Meet the Magic Makers, Cliburn 2013: Vadym Kholodenko
People practice for the Van Cliburn competition in this dramatic commercial from SpecBank.com
2013 Cliburn Competitor Vadym Kholodenko
Lazar Berman TCU 1995 Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody 2