On the subject of Cliburn...years ago when I as curator of the U of Texas 
recordings collection, I arranged for the deposit of the Houston Symphony 
archives. Through some personal connections I was able to locate the discs of 
Cliburn's debut with the Houston Symphony. He was 12 years old and played the 
first movement of the Tchaikovsky 1st. A friend of mine had worked with Van, so 
we sent him a copy of the broadcast. His secretary played it for him, not 
telling him who was playing. Van thought the playing was so so, but when he 
found out it was him, he supposedly responded with something like, "not bad for 
a kid!"

Having collected some of his live performances on my own, I have several from 
Japan, as well as performances with the Boston Symphony under both Leinsdorf and 
Munch...as well as some Ormandy things.

My own piano teacher was a friend of Van's. They both studied with "Rosy" 
Lhevinne at Juilliard at the same time. Van paid for my teacher's Carnegie debut 
and also help fund a CD we released of that Carnegie debut. My teacher, James 
Mathis, used to say that "Van played pretty." And indeed, he did. 

Karl


----- Original Message ----
From: Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, February 28, 2013 1:24:22 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Van Cliburn dies

I got my Cliburn box set last week also.  But I have always been more
interested in his Russian recordings.  When I went to Moscow in 1995,
one of the records on my want list was the LP of the 1958 winners which
included the track of Van Cliburn winning the true hearts of the Soviets
by playing as a totally unexpected encore, "Moscow Nights". This
actually was a new song then, written in 1957, but already it was deeply
loved by Muscovites and the rest of the Russians. It actually is not a
city song, it is about an evening in the Moscow Countryside. It had not
yet been turned into a jazzy number by Britisher Kenny Ball, it was
still just a sweetly sentimental treat. You can hear the sigh of the
audience when they realize what he is playing, just before they applaud.
I didn't find that record (I understand it is fairly common here in the
U.S.) but what I did get in a record department in Dom Knigi (House of
Books) on Novy Arbat was a 10-inch 78 which is a studio recording made a
few days later and I believe has never been reissued anywhere: 30573. 

There is a video on youtube of Cliburn playing that unannounced encore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1vZWJT-XGw

There is another very interesting documentary about the song, narrated i
Russian, which includes a section where Cliburn SINGS the song in
Russian, at 4:11 in.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duCEV-2yaow 

The label picture of the Cliburn 78 is here:  
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/c67.0.403.403/p403x403/313317_10200205544653611_1461872688_n.jpg


I also have some label pictures of 3 different copies of the original
recording of the song by Vladimir Troshin.  A 78 with the label in
English, and note the song is titled "Moscow Suburbian Evenings" 27620. 

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/374533_10200205915062871_900693098_n.jpg


Another 78 with the usual Russian language label:
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/577169_10200205926423155_744555079_n.jpg


and a very unusual 6-inch 33 1/3 microgroove copy with an English
language label with the MK logo, D-6311.  MK was the export organization
for books (the name means International Books), records, and philatelic
stamps.  I have a feeling this was sold to tourists in the Beriozka hard
currency stores.  This copy also includes the beautiful 45 second choral
introduction which is cut off of the 10-inch 78s.  They should have put
it out on a 12-inch 78, bit I have no evidence they ever did.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/421884_10200205933703337_1314941769_n.jpg


https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/482560_10200205940103497_135712526_n.jpg


Mike Biel  [log in to unmask]  


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Van Cliburn dies
From: Roderic G Stephens <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, February 27, 2013 10:21 pm
To: [log in to unmask]

In my case, the irony of Van Cliburn's passing is heightened by my
receiving today these two RCA "Living Stereo" SACD's, Tchaikovsky: Piano
Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 [Hybrid SACD]
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor / Beethoven: Emperor Concerto ~
Cliburn.  I'd ordered them from Amazon last week for a very reasonable
price.  Stuart, these SACD's DO combine two "albums" on each CD, so if
you hadn't already bought the box set, these might have been perfect for
you, although you might have only played the stereo layer if you don't
have a 5.1 or 7.1 discrete audio setup/player.  I'm looking forward to
paying homage to Mr. Cliburn as I play them in my studio/den.  They cost
me approximately $5.20 per concerto, since there are two concertos on
each disk plus free shipping with the third SACD of Richard Strauss:
Symphonia Domestica [Hybrid SACD]. I also already have his Rachmanioff
#3 on a reel to reel tape, but that recording
lacks the clarity and sound field of his other RCA's; it's very close
miked and off balance to the right. So, I was surprised when I found
that people were asking about $60 for the remastered version, although
it does include the Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 which I imagine is
probably quite different, sonically. I'm listening to the Tchaikovsky as
I type this, and it is truly wonderful, so I'm very pleased to honor his
memory tonight; he was/is an amazing part of our musical history, and
thanks to the remasterings, still with us in more than spirit! To
paraphrase Stewart, The sets are a fitting farewell to a great artist
and American.

DrG

--- On Wed, 2/27/13, Stewart Gooderman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Stewart Gooderman <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Van Cliburn dies
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 10:48 AM

I just received the Cliburn boxed set about a week ago. Listening to
about 60% of it so far, the sound is amazingly good, especially the
earliest issues and the later solo piano recordings.

The idea was to replicate the Lp's and this they have done very well,
even mimicking the labels on the CDs. However, some of these recordings
are very short and I think I would have liked some of the albums to have
been combined on one CD, making the set take up less room. 

The set is a fitting farewell to a great artist and American.

DrG

DrG


On Feb 27, 2013, at 9:52 AM, Cary Ginell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/02/27/van-cliburn-american-classical-pianist-dies/1951217/
>/
> Cary Ginell