Van Cliburn

Numerous myths surround the pianist Van Cliburn, who, in 1958, at the age of 24, won the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. After this stunning victory (at the time, relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were so tense that the jury needed Khrushchev's permission to award the prize to an American), the Texan became a major concert and recording artist. Then, in 1978, he stopped performing, apparently a victim of his own success. In this admirable bigoraphy, Reich, arts critic for the Chicago Tribune , disputes the claim advanced by skeptics that Cliburn's talent was overrated, his repertory limited and his artistry not taken seriously by the music estabishment. Telling much of the compelling story in the words of musicians, critics, friends and Cliburn himself, Reich shows why burnout, not failure, caused Cliburn to stop performing publicly until 1987, when he charmed Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev in a concert at the White House. Cliburn emerges as likable and unassuming, dedicated to helping other musicians and devoted to his mother, who was his first teacher and a major influence on his career. The most moving part of the book, however, is the account of Cliburn's love affair with the Russian people at the height of the Cold War. Photos not seen by PW. 75,000 first printing; $130,000 ad/promo. (May)