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Here's audio of some of his performances at the Tchaikovsky competition. I found it by looking for any Mozart by him, and was glad to find this whole collection on youtube.
Granting that he didn't play at his best forever, I loved his playing. Whenever I got to meet him, which all the contestants always did at the competitions, I would say, "I've never gotten over 'My Favorite Chopin'" (an album of his) and he always seemed to get a kick out of it.
This is lovely, fresh Mozart. (What do I mean by "fresh"? Maybe y'all can help me out .....I can't think of another word for it.)
I would say, "I've never gotten over 'My Favorite Chopin'" (an album of his) and he always seemed to get a kick out of it.
I believe that "My Favorite Chopin" was my first intro to Freddy, on cassette tape, when I was a kid in my home country, and the record shops (the 'posh' ones in the city that sold imported - almost all American - classical LPs and cassettes) stocked mainly Cliburn, Horowitz and Rubinstein for piano music. (And Ormandy's "The Philadelphia Sound" for orchestral.)
Most of the tapes I bought were of Horowitz, because he gave the most crash-bang-wallop for my money (when you've got very little pocket money to spend, and you have to save for 3 months for each tape, you want the most bang for your buck... ), but Cliburn came second, and Rubinstein a long way behind (I think I got his Chopin waltzes, and they just seemed so......tame, and as a growing kid, you don't want tame, especially when you're becoming wilder).
I thought Cliburn's Chopin (and Tchaik 1) was pretty good, but at that time, he didn't have much competition for that kind of rep where I lived. (I bought Horowitz mainly for Liszt and Rachmaninov).
I enjoyed that Mozart, and I think I do get what you mean by "fresh." To me his interpretation is just enjoyable and alive in a way that Mozart often isn't for me. I was actually about to look for some historical audio/video like that, as I just finished reading two different books about Cliburn's historic competition victory: Stuart Isacoff's "When the World Stopped to Listen...Van Cliburn's Cold War Triumph and its Aftermath" (2017) and Nigel Cliff's "Moscow Nights...The Van Cliburn Story -- How One Man and His Piano Transformed the Cold War" (2016)...and I wanted to see if my ears agree with the various descriptions of Cliburn's playing during the competition.
Van Cliburn was probably at his best in Edward MacDowell's Second Piano Concerto in D minor (Opus 23). He played the concerto in a recording in 1960 (with the Chicago Symphony & conductor Walter Hendl), but his history with that piece goes way back. Apparently, he played the MacDowell Second with Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1952, when he was 18 years old...a solid six years before the Tchaikovsky competition.
I love Van Cliburn's interpretation of MacDowell's Second Concerto more than any other interpretation.
Earl Wild rushes during some parts, Eugene List made technical mistakes in his recording. I've only heard one of many existing records of André Watts playing the MacDowell, a pirated recording on YouTube with Leopold Stokowski conducting, and there was a moment of miscommunication on tempo toward the end of the first movement.
Cliburn really understood MacDowell, who happens to be my favorite composer!
Van Cliburn was probably at his best in Edward MacDowell's Second Piano Concerto in D minor (Opus 23). He played the concerto in a recording in 1960 (with the Chicago Symphony & conductor Walter Hendl), but his history with that piece goes way back. Apparently, he played the MacDowell Second with Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1952, when he was 18 years old...a solid six years before the Tchaikovsky competition.
I love Van Cliburn's interpretation of MacDowell's Second Concerto more than any other interpretation.
Earl Wild rushes during some parts, Eugene List made technical mistakes in his recording. I've only heard one of many existing records of André Watts playing the MacDowell, a pirated recording on YouTube with Leopold Stokowski conducting, and there was a moment of miscommunication on tempo toward the end of the first movement.
Cliburn really understood MacDowell, who happens to be my favorite composer!
Welcome, and great first post!
I don't really know the piece, and I've only ever heard it once -- that is, part of it, on the radio, years ago. (48 years ago to be exact.) It was in the middle when I tuned in. I had no idea what it was, but liked it enough to stay with it till the end -- and then I learned that it was this concerto, played by Cliburn.
Van Cliburn was probably at his best in Edward MacDowell's Second Piano Concerto in D minor (Opus 23). He played the concerto in a recording in 1960 (with the Chicago Symphony & conductor Walter Hendl), but his history with that piece goes way back. Apparently, he played the MacDowell Second with Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1952, when he was 18 years old...a solid six years before the Tchaikovsky competition.
I love Van Cliburn's interpretation of MacDowell's Second Concerto more than any other interpretation.
Earl Wild rushes during some parts, Eugene List made technical mistakes in his recording. I've only heard one of many existing records of André Watts playing the MacDowell, a pirated recording on YouTube with Leopold Stokowski conducting, and there was a moment of miscommunication on tempo toward the end of the first movement.
Cliburn really understood MacDowell, who happens to be my favorite composer!
The one time I saw Cliburn perform live, he played that MacDowell concerto, at a performance in my University's concert series. It was shortly before he retired from performing in the late 70's. I remember talking with one of my piano teachers after the performance, the gist of which was that we were both expecting (unreasonably) to be bowled over, but it was just a nice, solid performance. Which I guess says a lot about what an impossible job Cliburn had every time he performed, of living up to his own reputation.
.....I can't think of another word for it.)
), but Cliburn came second, and Rubinstein a long way behind (I think I got his Chopin waltzes, and they just seemed so......tame, and as a growing kid, you don't want tame, especially when you're becoming wilder).