I know I’m hip deep in an opera but today marks an important anniversary. So the question is – where were you 50 years ago today when the world changed?
Today marks the 50th anniversary of when a tall, gangly young Texan strolled onto a stage in Moscow and walked off with the 1st prize in the Tchaikovsky competition. Overnight Van Cliburn became a household name. He might be the last classical musician to do so in such a manner, since the world has changed rather dramatically from day, and there’s probably nothing that could make such a splash on the world scene.
Several years ago I got a call to conduct the Houston Symphony in a summer concert (back when I worked in the summer). Happy to work, I accepted. But here’s the kicker – the soloist was to be none other than Van Cliburn playing the Tchaik! WOW!
I did not now what to expect. In this business one tends to run into living legends, but this level is beyond the pale. The infamous New World Symphony party with Leonard Bernstein was perhaps the last time I had met someone in the classical music business with as much name recognition. I had much trepidation.
I came early to our rehearsal, mainly to settle my nerves. In walks a very tall, rather distinguished, soft-spoken gentleman. For a second I thought he was the tuner. Then he sat down to play – this wasn’t any piano tuner for sure. There are a lot of (big, over-inflated, ridiculous) egos in this business, but my time with Van was pure joy. An extremely nice and genteel person, there was nothing to dislike about him. His rendition of Tchaik actually surprised me. I was so used to overblown personality-driven performances, and he just sat down and played it. It was a revelation. Just play it, and it works.
Over the years I’ve wondered how he was doing. Not as a musician, mind you, but as a human being. That’s the way I think of him, which is high praise indeed. Happy Anniversary, Van!!! Thanks for changing the world.
Bill
Great post Bill, he truly is special, having lived in Fort Worth for 7 years and assisting at the last 3 Cliburn competitions, I got to know him a little bit and then there is that sound he has, incredible still. One quick story relayed to me by Joyce Yang. When she played the Tchaikovsky in Fort Worth last season, after the first movement there was a solitary applauder followed by gasps from the audience as if they were saying “this is Van’s concerto everyone in Fort Worth knows that there are two movements to go!” After the performance Van who was there came back to congratulate Joyce and admitted it was he who was the one applauding after the first movement!