Editorial

The American pianist Van Cliburn was striking in more ways than one. At 6ft 4in he cut an impressive figure, and dazzled audiences with his early performances of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Cliburn, who has passed away aged 78, was an icon to many. When he returned home to New York after winning the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition he was greeted with a ticker tape parade, and held as a national hero. Russian audiences also adored him, and his popularity on both sides of the Atlantic during the height of the Cold War propelled him into the history books, forever remembered as a cultural bridge between two continents. But his honeymoon with the musical press was quick to end. Cliburn withdrew from concertising in the late 1970s, and apart from intermittent appearances, he stopped playing in public.

Rather ghoulishly, or perhaps it was just sheer coincidence, RCA released a boxed set of Van Cliburn’s back catalogue earlier this year (Legendary Van Cliburn: The Complete Album Collection, 88765407232), before the pianist’s passing. Having procured a copy I sought to listen to all 28 discs before the ink dried on this current issue. I admit I struggled to get past the first CD. Cliburn’s 1958 recording of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto, recorded with RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Kondrashin is justly famed. After playing it on repeat for two days I managed to tear myself away and attend to the rest of the contents. Over the course of the next editions IP writers will critically examine Cliburn’s contribution to pianism.

Overleaf we embark on a celebration of French music and the artistry it inspired: esteemed colleagues discuss the diversity of the repertoire and assess the importance of the French ‘school’ of piano-playing (pp37-41); while Mark Ainley traces the history of Alfred Cortot’s pianism (pp24-27). The issue also includes a rarely performed work by Charles-Marie Widor (p47-53).

Claire Jackson, editor