The American pianist, laureate of the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition Harvey Laven (Van) Cliburn was born in 1934 in Shreveport, Louisiana, but soon the family moved to Texas. Cliburn received his first music lessons from his mother, who was a pianist. At the age of seventeen, he entered the prestigious Juilliard School and studied under Rosina Lhévinne.
The inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition took place in the spring of 1958. Many foreign musicians came to the capital of the Soviet Union, and the guest of honor, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, arrived — all this was unusual. The main event in the musical life of Moscow was the performance of Harvey Laven Cliburn, a 23-year-old American pianist from Texas. On April 2, 15, according to the draw, the two-meter, red-haired American approached the piano with giant steps, set down, raised his head, and put his fingers on the keyboard. When the musician began to play Bach, the audience listened attentively, and after the performance of Mozart’s works burst into applause. Then Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky followed, and after the performance Cliburn forever became the idol of the Russian public.
Alexander Goldenweiser attended Harvey Laven’s concert at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Afterwards he wrote a letter to the American pianist, in which he gave an analysis of the performed program:
