TV Standard: NTSC
Color: Mono

Credits:

Ravel

Description:

Although born in the United States, 23-year-old Van Cliburn (1934-) won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 and became a national hero as the winning pianist in the then "Cold War Soviet Union. This video is of three Chopin works recorded by the BBC the following year. His "My Favorite Chopin" album, released around the same time, was at the top of the Pillboard charts for 37 weeks and sold an astonishing number of classical LPs (over 1 million copies), so his popularity was tremendous. Of course, Cliburn was a talented pianist, but perhaps the glory that America gave him at the time was too great. It is unfortunate that there is not much to note about his later activities, but this 1959 Chopin performance at least is a performance of him in his "prime," and one can feel the happiness oozing from his whole body. This is a video of the "god star" who is said to have impressed Richter, Gileris, and Shostakovich.The same year, the BBC recorded Arrau (1903-1991), but this is a solidly grounded and unshakable Beethoven, a masterful performance that was described by Gramophone magazine when it was released as an LP in 1961 as "a powerful and dramatically convincing interpretation and grasp of the music, both in interpretation and technique. The performance was described by Gramophone as "a powerful and dramatically convincing interpretation and technical grasp of the music" when it was released on LP in 1961. All are being released on DVD for the first time. Naxos Japan