In 1958 the Soviet Union sponsored the first International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, an event intended to show Soviet superiority in matters cultural. Since the previous year the Soviets claimed a major technological victory in launching Sputnik 1 before any western satellites had yet flown, the clear propaganda goal was to showcase the triumph of the east over the west. The competition was won by a man from Fort Worth, and you can read more about him here:
Van Cliburn
Clearly things didn't turn out the way the cultural propagandists planned, and the event wound up being one of the more amusing tales from the deadly serious epoch of the Cold War. Beyond his achievement at the Tchaikovsky competition, Cliburn also played for every president from Eisenhower to Obama, and led a musical career full of accomplishments. A little of the richness of Texas was lost with him last week, but the Lone Star state is full of optimism, and there are surely many more as gifted in their own ways as Cliburn practicing there right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment