Van Cliburn

It sometimes astounds me what some reviewers [the Press inclusive mind you] read into a book that simply is not there or is duly imagined because they believe the subject was allegedly rendered as "just too perfect" although that could signal merely their own lust for "Hey! Where is the DIRT?" and absent same, well, as I say, suddenly the author is engaging in mere hero-worship of the first chop! So too the common comment, "why doesn't Van Cliburn write his own story?" which is, truth be told, a valid question but then again what is Van Cliburn supposed to say that isn't already known about him or is he to dig for dirt or demons in a sort of retro mea culpa of sorts for .. for ... for WHAT? Book sales? I mean it 'is' possible for a person to be a national celebrity with a readily recognizable name [the classical piano competition in Fort Worth that bears his name notwithstanding] and 'not' have the seemingly requisite dirt and warts a la mode to go with that celebrity status! On the other hand, absent the "focus" on dirt for dirt's sake or the profusion of exposed warts and faults, suddenly he becomes "too perfect" and hence somehow flawed by default. Why is that? Even author Howard Reich, whose writings I admire BTW, gets the bad rap that he allegedly equated the '58 Tchaikovsky competion and Van's win as somehow the fuse for the fall of communism itself. And the alleged hero-worship goes on from there. Say what? Are we reading the same book? I saw the very conjectured words 'may have begun when the Soviets enjoyed their first vicarious taste of Western-style freedom and openness....' and suddenly this and this alone began communism's downfall. Sure. Can I then assume that every competition finalist that receives one of Van Cliburn's famous bear-hugs and "Bravo! Bravo! Bravo" recitation at TCU or Bass Hall has an instant career de facto made and assured! I think you get my drift. I like Van Cliburn and I think [since I do follow classical piano competitions and remain a staunch defender of their purpose!] much of what he is all about can be heard when he addresses Alexander Kobrin and Davide Cabassi in his home after the 12th Van Cliburn competition [2005] and renders his philosophy on music and the role of the classical interpreter of that music. So too, I am of the view that the continued use of his name for the Fort Worth Van Cliburn international piano competition is hardly a matter of simply being nostalgic or 'the thing to do' but rather what the man represents personally and what he stands for in terms of what he has rendered to his fellow citizens, the nation itself [capped by the Presidential Medal of Freedom] and the world. That's not rhetoric, that is fact and well borne out by the record itself. The name is retained because the name and the man stand for something! Something good and refreshingly wholesome in an era where dirt and the more notable outrages of human behavior somehow become the 'measure' , of exactly 'what' I do

An excellent book in many respects - but not perfect. Mr. Reich gives many interesting little anecdotes from Mr. Cliburn's life, and frequently quotes friends of the pianists, and even Mr. Cliburn himself. In fact, there are so many quotes from Mr. Cliburn that a friend of mine stated that it could practically be an autobiography. I wish Mr. Cliburn WOULD write an autobiography, but just from what I know of him that seems unlikely.At any rate, the book starts off with a rather too detailed geneology, tracing Mr. Cliburn's roots back to somewhere in England, and detailing the career of his great uncle on his mother's side or something like that. But I didn't want to read about his great-uncle on his mother's side - I wanted to read about Mr. Cliburn.Of course, there is plenty about him - quite enough! But there are many unnecessary details - like the names of his judges, people who should have been judges, critics, names of friends of his friends, names of cars his friends drove, etc, etc...Mr. Reich appears to hold the somewhat different opinion that Mr. Cliburn is the epidomy of perfection, and any competition that he entered in which he did not come in first (and those were extremely few!) is decidedly pooh-poohed. Although I think Mr. Cliburn is extremely excellent, myself, (he is my favorite pianist), I would not go so far as to claim he is perfection. (He IS close, though. :) )But the book is certainly far from bad - I mentioned the anecdotes, and for the extreme Cliburnite much of the extra information can be interesting, like the description of the house he currently lives in (it seems to "go on and on," according to Reich, which is certainly possible. Evidently there is room for six Christmas trees in the family room.), and the fact that he leaves up his Christmas decorations for most of the year, and that he calls himself one of the most sentimental people to ever live. Which is likely - he left up the decorations for his mother's 80th birthday party for, actually, years after it was over.We get to follow him all the way from his early childhood through his years at Julliard (where we discover that he is partial to caviar.) and to his decision to go to Moscow, and to Kruschev's (sp?) liking for him (which Reich thinks had much to do with Communism's downfall much later.{?}), all the way through his popularity to his long intermission, and even to his return to the stage. And the whole thing, the whole way, is jam-packed with information. Some necessary, some merely slightly interesting, some quite monotonous, and some definitely unnecessary. But I enjoyed the book immensely, especially since I received it when I was sick in bed and had nothing to do but read, anyway.I would recommend it for any Cliburn fan - and really, the names of the neighbors down the street and the make of his friends' cars CAN be interesting.

I enjoyed Howard Reich's biography of Van Cliburn tremendously and give it "4 stars." Only the pianist's own autobiography could top it. I found Reich's book to be thoroughly researched and rich in detail. Personally, I appreciated reading about Cliburn's family's history. Van is fiercely Texan and no story about him would be complete without discussing his deep Texas roots. As a lifelong Cliburn devotee, I've read most of what's printed about Mr. Cliburn. Of course, much of the generally known, factual-type statistics can't help but be repeated, but I found a lot of information in Reich's book not found elsewhere. I especially love the many anecdotes in this book, as they illustrate so warmly and so well Van's "small town" Texas childhood (Kilgore) as contrasted with his "artist's life" on the world stage. Two examples: One of Cliburn's closest childhood friends, Lottie Guttry, describes sitting in a Kilgore Baptist church with Van's family one Sunday. She recalls how she and Van watched as an elderly man sneezed some ill-fitting dentures straight out of his mouth...and directly in front of where Van and she stood! She says Van's sense of humor took over and, no matter how hard he tried, he could not stop laughing. Van's parents were NOT amused, however, and Van recalls each parent taking "a piece of his shoulder" and pinching it for all it was worth. He says, tongue-in-cheek, that his parents were "great pinchers." Van personally tells the story of a disastrous concert scenario where the damper pedals literally dropped off a piano as he began playing the Schumann Concerto. He says he was "just this little kid" in the middle of an on-stage "TRAIN WRECK." The piano tuner/repairman was summoned but had "left the building" - and a very young Van Cliburn was left to (literally) pick up the pieces. Van recounts how the Prussian conductor announced "the obvious" to the audience ("Laties and gentlemen...ze pedals have DROPPED OFF!") before erupting off-stage. Fortunately, one of the orchestra members worked as a piano tuner in his spare time and quickly repaired the pedals - and Cliburn went on to play to standing ovations.I think Reich has done an excellent job in locating and interviewing the people who knew Cliburn best - his friends and neighbors from Shreveport, from Kilgore, and his Juilliard classmates. Even when Van was only 19 or so, his peers at Juilliard say they recognized that his genius was something truly special and profound. Reich also describes the rivalries that surfaced among the top piano students at Juilliard during that time. Also Rosina Lhevinne's strong belief in Van, that she never considered any other student but Van to enter the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow - that she firmly believed that he was the only American capable of winning the Gold.Of course, no one will EVER tell the life story of Van Cliburn better than the artist himself. I do hope he writes his memoirs someday.