Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

"Van Cliburn, the American pianist whose first-place award at the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow made him an overnight sensation and propelled him to a phenomenally successful and lucrative career, though a short-lived one, died on Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth. ... Hailing from Texas, Mr. Cliburn was a tall, lanky 23-year-old when he clinched the gold medal in the inaugural year of the Tchaikovsky competition. ... He signed a contract with RCA Victor, and his recording of the Tchaikovsky First Concerto sold over a million copies within a year. Reviewing that recording in The Times in 1958, the critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote, 'Cliburn stands revealed as a pianist whose potentialities have fused into a combination of uncommon virtuosity and musicianship'" (Anthony Tommasini, "Van Cliburn, Cold War Musical Envoy, Dies at 78," New York Times, 2/27/13).

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