No words...

http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/...s-at-age-78.ece

Rest in peace. He was a legend.

R.I.P.

Not unexpected but very sad.
Truly one of the great pianists of our time, and one who inadvertently became a force for world peace.
Having the opportunity to meet him and speak with him at the Cliburn amateur competitions was an unimaginable joy, as you can see in this picture which I feel very fortunate to have as one of those memories. I will miss him greatly, in many respects.

He was my most favorite of many favorite performers of Brahms' 2nd Concerto. Here's a complete performance from 1972:

I'm very saddened to here this.

RIP. One of the great pianists of the 20th century. Sponsored a world-famous competition. I vividly remember in 1972 when he made his annual visit to the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. I played horn in the World Youth Symphony. When he sat down at the first rehearsal and began playing the Rachmaninoff 3rd I was amazed at the huge sound he was able to get from the piano. He really played well that week. Unforgettable.

Wow. Not the best news with which to stir up a quiet morning at work. I feel momentarily out of breath.

(BTW, great picture, Mark.)

I was fortunate enough to hear him play his last concert at Tanglewood. He wasn't in top form that night, but it was a memorable experience for me. Definitely one of the greats.

Here is a non-piano clip shortly after winning the Tchaikovsky competition from the TV show "What's My Line":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lUFFZqXtoM

What a great thing to have! I found it on there a while ago, and did a post on there. The clip shows a totally other side of him, and it's hilarious.

nooo ...

He was one of the first pianists to play the original 1913 version of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No.2 at a time when even the score was almost impossible to find. And he also played the big chordal cadenza in Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto when it wasn't at all fashionable, and made it his own, perhaps paving the way for other pianists. Even Ashkenazy didn't switch to that big cadenza until much later.

His recordings of those two works remain landmarks, in my opinion, even more so than that of the Tchaikovsky No.1.

Awful!

This performance has always been my benchmark for the piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apNTq-Tgf4w

RIP, Maestro.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

RIP, Mr. Cliburn.

He certainly made a more convincing case for it than Gieseking's rather unfocused scramble.

I'm sure many will have their own 'landmark' Cliburn recordings, but to me his MacDowell D minor remains unsurpassed.

I am shocked. One of the most important pianists of the 20th century.

Sad news indeed.

What a terribly sad loss - one of the greatest. Thank you Van Cliburn for sharing your amazing talent.

So saddened to hear of this...and right before the 14th competition too...

One of my former piano teachers actually heard him perform in the Soviet Union. She said he played Rachmaninoff better than the Russians could. She really looked up to him.

Ironically, I was listening to his recording of Prokofiev 3 this morning. Such marvelous talent.

A true legend, he will be missed.

My favorite performance:

one of my all time favorite pianists. he'll live on thru his recordings.

I had the opportunity to hear him play on two different occasions (the Tchaikovsky 1 and Rachmaninoff 2) and also sat at the same table and chatted briefly with him at a Symphony fundraiser many years ago. Such a gentleman - a class act. Fifty years from now Cliburn will still be remembered as one of the great pianists of the 20th Century - long after many of his peers have been forgotten. RIP.

Damnit.

R.I.P.

R.I.P. Van, you will be missed. I was hoping he might hang on for another Cliburn Competition, but it wasn't meant to be.

As I have written before, I experienced one of the greatest moments in my life when I watched him perform at Grant Park in Chicago right after his triumph in Russia. This was in 1958.

In this day of such crass and insulting noise that is considered by so many as music, Mr. Cliburn is so far above it all that he is a world in and of itself. I can think of no greater and more deserved praise.

With a heavy heart,
Kathleen

As a child I remember him winning the Tchaikovsky. My mother rushed out and bought the Tchaikovsky as soon as it came out and listened to it endlessly.

One of the great disappointments in my life was not hearing him live.

I was just listening to his Chopin 3rd Ballade last night. It remains my favorite performance of that work.

"Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

Just ran across this. Enjoy!

Van was one of those larger than life guys that I was lucky to meet in my piano youth at a small college in South Jersey back in the early 70's. I remember he landed in an adjacent field in a helicopter, never warmed up and just hastened to the hall, sat down and played a typically grand program. He met with all of the aspiring young pianists at a reception afterwards and chatted with any and all that showed more than a passing interest. He was totally engaged and couldn't have been a better ambassador for the piano and classical music in general, just a really warm and very kind absolute gentleman. I learned the A flat polonaise that semester, inspired by his performance.

Not just a great artist, but a great human being.

Yes, I agree, and, I have a personal favorite in his Chopin performances:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCnEn6rzTLY

Superb playing!

His legend lives on. He was truly one of a kind; I doubt there will ever be another like him. His life was like a fairy tale; a phenomenon that owed as much to the man, the person within, as the pianist. We were fortunate to be around while he was.

I wrote him a letter once!

Skipping practice tonight to come online and be with fellow pianists.