Van Cliburn

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.