Cliburn, Van (redirected from Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.)

Cliburn, Van (Harvey Lavan Cliburn) (klī`bərn), 1934–, American pianist, b. Shreveport, La. Until 1951, Cliburn studied with his mother, a concert pianist, and became a pupil of Rosina Lhévinne at the Juilliard School of Music. Cliburn won the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. His superb technique and interpretations are especially well-suited to Romantic music. In 1962 he created the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Tex.

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Cliburn, Van

 orig. Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.

(born July 12, 1934, Shreveport, La., U.S.) U.S. pianist. He was taught piano by his mother in his early years. After study with Rosina Lhévinne (1880–1976) at the Juilliard School, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic. In 1958 he became a national sensation as the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In 1962 he established the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. Possessed of an impressive technique, he limited himself to the Romantic repertoire and spent many years away from the concert stage.

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Cliburn, (Harvey Lavan, Jr.) Van (1934–  ) pianist; born in Shreveport, La. He soloed with orchestras as a teenager before being catapulted to fame as the first American to win Moscow's Tchaikovsky Prize (1958). He embarked on an international solo career, specializing in the 19th-century standard repertoire, but in 1978 largely ceased performing for personal reasons. The piano competition he began in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1962 became an important international event.

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Cliburn, Van 

(full name Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.). Born July 12, 1934, in Shreveport, La. American pianist.

In 1954, Cliburn graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, where he had been a student of R. Lhevinne. He won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958. Cliburn’s success in Moscow brought him world renown. His several concert tours in the USSR were triumphant. Cliburn’s playing is noted for spontaneity, straightforwardness, lyricism, exultant sound, and impetuous dynamism. The most interesting pieces in his repertoire are Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1, and Liszt’s Rhapsody No. 12. He also plays sonatas of Beethoven, Prokofiev, Liszt, and S. Barber, as well as the early compositions of A. N. Scriabin.

REFERENCES

Chasins, A., and V. Stiles. Legenda o Vene Klaiberne. Moscow, 1959. (Translated from English.)
Khentova, S. Van Klaibern, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1966.
Kogan, G. “Slushaia Klaiberna.” Voprosy pianizma. Moscow, 1968.
Kogan, G. “Tri pianista.” Voprosy pianizma. Moscow, 1968.
Rabinovich, D. “Ven Klaibern—Van Klibern.” Muzykal’naia zhizn’ 1972, no. 18.
Sokol’skii, M. “Van Klibern i russkaia muzyka.” Sovetskaia muzyka, 1972, no. 10.