April 14, 1958: Van Cliburn Becomes a Cold War Cause Célèbre

April 14, 1958: The 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition is held in Moscow, as a means of using artistic competition to ease Cold War tensions. Named for 19th Century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it was open to classical pianists, violinists and cellists between the ages of 16 and 32, and singers between the ages of 19 and 32.

The 1st edition had only 2 categories, piano and violin. No one was surprised when the violin competition was won by a Soviet, Valery Klimov, a 26-year-old native of Kyiv, Ukraine. But the world was shocked when the piano competition was won by an American, 23-year-old Van Cliburn.

Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. was born on July 12, 1934 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up outside Dallas in Kilgore, Texas. At the age of 12, he won a Statewide piano competition, which led to his debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He entered the Julliard School in New York City at 17. The following year, 1952, he won the International Chopin Competition at the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. In 1954, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall.

Cliburn entered the Tchaikovsky Competition, and played Tchiakovsky's own Piano Concerto No. 1, and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. It earned him an 8-minute standing ovation from the Moscow crowd. After that, he made a brief speech in Russian, and then resumed his seat at the piano and began to play, to the surprise and delight of the Russian musicians visible behind him in the film made of his part in the competition, his own piano arrangement of the much-beloved song "Moscow Nights," which further endeared him to the Russians.

When it was time to announce the winner, on April 14, the judges felt obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give the first prize to an American. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev asked. He was told, "Yes." He said, "Then give him the prize!"

Cliburn returned home to a ticker-tape parade in New York, the only time the honor has been accorded a classical musician. Arriving at City Hall after the parade, Cliburn told the audience:

I appreciate more than you will ever know that you are honoring me, but the thing that thrills me the most is that you are honoring classical music. Because I'm only one of many. I'm only a witness and a messenger.  

Because I believe so much in the beauty, the construction, the architecture invisible, the importance for all generations, for young people to come that it will help their minds, develop their attitudes, and give them values. That is why I'm so grateful that you have honored me in that spirit.

By extolling classical music so much, was Cliburn firing a warning shot at rock and roll? Only he knew for sure, but for parents of teenagers, this had to be very encouraging.

Cliburn appeared on The Steve Allen Show -- Allen was a pianist and and composer, albeit of pop songs -- and met with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He received a recording contract with RCA Victor Records. His recording of the Tchiakovsky No. 1 earned the 1st-ever Grammy Award for classical recording the following year.

In 1967, Cliburn -- over any and all jazz and rock performers -- was chosen as the American representative for the worldwide satellite broadcast Our World. Britain chose The Beatles.

He returned to the Soviet Union many times, including during the 1972 summit meeting between Presidents Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev that led to the SALT I and Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaties. He never married, and in 1996 was forced by a lawsuit to come out of the closet, which would have destroyed him in the first wave of his fame. He met with every President from Eisenhower to Barack Obama, until his death on February 27, 2013, at the age of 78. 

The Tchaikovsky Competition was held every 4 years thereafter, until 2022, when it was boycotted due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The only other Americans ever to win, in any discipline, have been Jane Marsh in female vocal in 1966, Elmar Oliveira in violin in 1978, Nathaniel Rosen in cello in 1978, Hans Choi in male vocal in 1990, and Deborah Voigt in female vocal in 1990.

Initial violin winner Valery Klimov died in 2022.

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April 14, 1958 was a Sunday. Peter Capaldi, the Scottish actor who starred as the Twelfth Doctor on Doctor Who, was born on this day.

The baseball season opened that day, and only 1 game was played: The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red sox, 5-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. President Dwight D. Eisenhower threw out the ceremonial first ball. Pedro Ramos went the distance for the Senators. Jim Lemon hit a home run. Jackie Jensen hit a home run for the Red Sox, but Ted Williams did not play.

Football was out of season. The NBA season had ended the night before. Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played at the Boston Garden, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-0, to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The Canadiens would in it in 6 games.