Our friend Da Hsuan came through with this fine piece today that I just have to share – Joel
In 1958, in the midst of the Soviet Union – the United States coldest of the “cold war,” a tall 23-year-old Texan Van Cliburn from Fort Worth, Dallas, which was and probably still is not the center of the Western civilization heritage, went to Moscow to compete in the first Soviet organized International Tchaikovsky Competition. It was obvious that Van Cliburn performance of playing the grand Russian composers’ compositions, the Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 were clearly superior to all other competitors.
With the intense “cold war” as the background, and realizing Van Cliburn was obviously the best, the jury of the competition went to the then Premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, to see whether it was “politically correct” to award him as the winner.
Then came the famous comment from Khrushchev:
“Если он лучший, подарите ему это! (If he is the best, give it to him!)”
These words by a leading politician at the height of the “cold war” was not universally known. They should be!
Fast forward to this year, 2022, which is 64 years after the Van Cliburn Moscow “incident”, a little bit of the 1958 is replaying here in Fort Worth, Texas.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year, many organizations, albeit sports or music, boycotted Russia and many disallowed Russians participation. However, it is truly a grand gesture from the Cliburn Piano Competition, an organization known simply as CLIBURN, made the, maybe even courageous, decision to remain resolute in invite the very best from all corners of the world to come to Fort Worth to compete. This organization simply believe that in the artistry of music, politics absolutely play no role!
Last night, after finishing the semifinal part of this competition, six finalists who performed spectacularly, were announced by a jury of international background. These finalists are and they come from (and their ages are):
Dmytro Choni, Ukraine, 28
Anna Geniushene, Russia, 31
Uladzislau Khandohi, Belarus, 20
Yunchan Lim, South Korea, 18
Ilya Shmukler, Russia, 27
Clayton Stephenson, United States, 23
Where the finalists come from is telling the world that in this year’s Van Cliburn Competition, artistry still reigns supreme!
Let us hope that in 2022, just as 1958.
“Если он лучший, подарите ему это! (If he is the best, give it to him!)”