The Adoration Of Van Cliburn
JAMES, HIBBARD
MUSIC By Hihbard James The Adoration Of Van Cliburn The young pianist Van Cliburn seems to have been catapulted into a position co-equal with motherhood and the flag. To speak of him in any terms...
...Though the orchestra is not nearly as good, Badura-Skoda's playing has an assurance and maturity that Cliburn lacks...
...It will never rank among the great Beethoven piano pieces, but even second-rank Beethoven is worth a great deal, and Serkin is at his best in this record...
...Compare it, for instance, with Paul Badura-Skoda's recording with Sir Adrian Boult and the Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra (Westminster XWN 18162...
...It's a must for lovers of the piano, of Serkin or of Beethoven (or any combination of the three...
...Noehren plays on the Beckerath Organ of the Trinity Lutheran Church, which is probably as close to the type of organ that Bach wrote for as it is possible to get...
...His handling of the fiendishly difficult cadenza (Rachmaninoff himself often played a less intricate version) is ferociously sure, while the slow movement was played with a controlled sensitivity that was masterly...
...He has a flashing, bravura style that is more than a match for the Symphony of the Air, conducted by Kiril P. Kondrashin of the Moscow Orchestra...
...The list also includes such seasoned performers as Badura-Skoda and Glenn Gould, but as yet I haven't heard of either being signed to a contract by Victor, rivaling only Elvis Presley's in the liberality of its terms...
...It's just that he isn't as terrific as we have been led to believe by some of the hysterical gushings in the press—particularly by reporters who are usually assigned to cover the comings and goings of deposed dictators and movie starlets...
...It's all very cheering for Cliburn, but it must be quite disheartening to dozens of other talented young pianists who are eating their hearts out on the ill-paid, ill-publicized second-rate concert trail...
...3, on the other hand, is something to write home about...
...While on the subject of pianists, it's a pleasure to call your attention to a recent recording by Rudolf Serkin—about whose artistry, I presume, there is no longer any room for debate...
...It isn't that Van Cliburn isn't good...
...Of the two concertos he is currently performing, he plays one respectably and the other superbly...
...Noehren has thoroughly mastered both his instrument and the chorale style, and shows off this great baroque organ magnificently...
...He also shows himself to be a member of that (happily) growing band of organists who are getting back to Bach and leaving the vox humana and the rubbato to Virgil Fox and his ilk...
...If you like Bach's organ music, don't miss Robert Noehren's playing of 3 Choral Partitas (Urania 8012), the latest recording in Urania's Baroque Organ Series...
...He makes an exciting experience of what in lesser hands might be little more than an exercise in pianism...
...Yet it takes more than one great interpretation to make a career, and I cannot banish the thought that Cliburn's current triumphs are more important sociologically than musically...
...I propose to take my life in my hands and do just that...
...He has been around for more than ten years, winning competitions and appearing with major orchestras to critical acclaim, but it took what amounts to a propaganda offensive in the cold war to turn him into an international celebrity...
...Having listened to Cliburn since his return from Moscow, all I can say is: Wait and see...
...Abram Chasins, in Speaking of Pianists, lists Cliburn among no fewer than sixteen other young pianists, with the following comment: "Yet there is an up-and-coming, exceptionally talented group from whom we should rightfully expect outstanding consummation...
...Diabelli was among the most minor of the many minor composers who flourished at Vienna in the early 19th century, yet he earned his niche in musical history by writing a waltz that inspired Beethoven to write a series of 33 variations...
...If you want a real thrill, get his Beethoven's Variations on a Theme by Diabelli (Columbia ML 5246...
...Cliburn's performance of the Rachmaninoff Concerto in D minor, No...
...To speak of him in any terms short of hushed reverence almost calls for Congressional investigation...
...He is, in fact, extraordinarily good...
...and the other fifteen apparently have a long way to go before any of them can be referred to as "a latter-day Lindbergh...
...His approach to the Tchaikovsky B Flat Minor Concerto is somewhat tentative—certainly not better than that of a dozen other young men...
Vol. 41 • June 1958 • No. 23
