American pianist Van Cliburn, who was diagnosed with bone cancer last August, died this morning at his home in Fort Worth, Tex. He was 78.

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John Terauds

John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.

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Thanks to winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow — an American on Cold War enemy soil — Cliburn became a huge star in his 20s, much in the way that Lang Lang is today.

He leaves behind an immense legacy, including the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, considered to be one of the world’s finest. He was also one of the rare Americans to continue to reach behind the old Iron Curtain and perform in the former Soviet Union.

Anthony Tommasini has written an excellent, detailed obituary for The New York Times here.

Here is Cliburn playing Franz Liszt’s B minor Sonata at the Moscow Conservatory in 1960:

John Terauds

• Author
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John Terauds

John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.

Latest posts by John Terauds (see all)

• Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
• Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
• CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019