Wednesday, March 6, 2013 by Matt DeStefano
Van Cliburn
Andrew comments on the passing of Van Cliburn.
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Studs discusses his book AND THEY ALL SANG: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey.
"It is the only interview that I know of done with Studs where he discusses in detail his passion for opera and opera singers including Rosa Raisa, Lotte Lehmann, and "his" diva, Claudia Muzio. Studs also talks about his disc jockey days in general and the music editions of The Studs Terkel Program on WFMT. We play opera scenes with Raisa, Lehmann, Muzio, and a song by Woody Guthrie as well." -Andrew
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Andrew,
Your commentary on Van Cliburn was spot on. Van Cliburn was the most famous musician in the world when he won the
Tchaikovsky Music competition in Moscow in 1958 at age 23. He was good enough to come to Lubbock in West Texas, twice over the next three years (he played with all the major symphonies of the world and did not have to come to Lubbock.) to play the Tchaikovsky piano concerto with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. I was on the first stand of second violins and thus performed in close proximity to him. He had his Steinway shipped from Ft. Worth to play even though there were fine pianos in Lubbock. He was a good person. It was a trill to play with him. I was about 18 at the time.
Belverd Needles
Winnetka, Illinois