Van Cliburn - Concert Pianist (With Audio CD)

Starring:Van Cliburn
Studio: RCA
Product Type: DVD

The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music

Average customer rating:

If in doubt, begin with the 8th Van Cliburn [1989] competition!
5 stars

The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music
Starring: Dudley Moore
Director: Peter Rosen
Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Life in Music
The Seventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Playing With Fire
The Sixth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Twelfth Van Cliburn Piano Competition - In the Heart

ASIN: B0001Z48VG
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Customer Reviews:

If in doubt, begin with the 8th Van Cliburn [1989] competition! .......2007-04-14

I would agree with the previous reviewer, Ariel, that if you have to start somewhere with the available Van Cliburn competition DVD's, the 1989 8th Van Cliburn ["Here to Make Music" -- Emmy Award Winner production by Peter Rosen Productions] is the one to choose!

The competitors with emphasis on the six finalists of course literally grow on you and, in my opinion, the viewer can make up their own mind about what I felt to be the excellent playing/interpretations and in fact "well earned" gold medal by Alexei Sultanov who was then only 19. But so what! It's not the age of the competitor, it's the playing and interpretive ability! Joyce Yang took the silver medal at the 2005 competition and she was but age 19 herself! Indeed, even the 2005 competition media wag dubbed "the Undertaker" [sic], Alexander Kobrin, at 25, had the last 'dig', as it were, by taking home the gold!

Why Van Cliburn jury member Gyorgy Sandor was so upset about the '89 Sultanov win totally escapes me and readers may recall Mr. Sandor relegating Sultanov's 1989 gold medal win as a publicly stated "tremendous scandal" [sic]. Even juror member John Lill made with the "medal weighing heavily" rhetoric on Sultanov. I stated in another review on a different DVD item that Mr. Sandor appeared in the DVD itself to be biting on lemons when the name "Sultanov" was announced and he sat there stone-faced as various of the other jurors caught by the camera applauded. Why? Dunno! Apparently, to Mr. Sandor anyway, 'anyone' in their teens or perhaps under 30 which is in fact the 'maximum' age for the Van Cliburn 'pro' competition [as opposed to the Van Cliburn "Outstanding Amateurs" competition open to the over 35 crowd] simply 'lack the experience and depth of understanding' of the great pieces yet it remains ironic that the pianistic masters themselves were 'composing' much less playing the great classical pieces while they themselves were quite young!

As is known, Alexei Sultanov passed away at age 35 from long term medical issues and complications in 2005, the same year as Mr. Sandor's own passing in his 90's, but I believe the DVD is a fine testament to his playing skills and his overly friendly, daring albeit within reason and charismatic demeanor much akin to Davide Cabassi in the 2005 competition.

So too, this DVD has ample bonus extras including a Van Cliburn competition retrospective. Those of us who both love and play classical piano and at whatever level of competence [what's that? Well, let's just say that 'my' rendition of Beethoven's rather sublime 2nd movement "Appassionata" may not always conform to the way the great master composed it. Ahh -- for that "Muppet Show" shtick and the "Bust of Beethoven", you know, the great man in bust form placed near the piano but when Borge hits a [purposeful] clinker in the "Moonlight Sonata" piece and Fozzie-bear says to Borge, "Did you make a mistake?", the 'Bust of Beethoven' suddenly pipes up to defend Borge and quips, "No, that's the way I wrote it!"] should enjoy it immensely.

The DVD has a little bit of everything both behind the keys and behind the scenes so to speak including the on-going commentary segments by well known artists and the Van Cliburn competition jurors and administration. An excellent compliment or adjunct companion, if you will, to this particular DVD is Joseph Horowitz and his book, "The Ivory Trade" [1990] which has a specific focus on the 1989 8th Van Cliburn competition with a built-in Van Cliburn competition retrospective and is an excellent read which well compliments the Emmy award winning DVD!

Doc Tony

5 stars.......2007-03-07

It is great to be the first in reviewing this wonderful documentary on DVD. First it should be mentioned that all the Van Cliburn Piano Competition DVDs are absolutely great, very emotional, inspirational, beautifully made and fantastic to watch.
I would like to say that the documentaries from the Seventh and Twelfth ("In the Heart of Music") Van Cliburn Piano Competition are both very good indeed and worth watching but the ones from the Eighth ("Here to Make Music"), Ninth ("Life in Music"), Tenth ("Playing with Fire"), and Eleventh ("Playing on the Edge") are better, this is just my personal opinion.
About this particular programme from the Eighth Van Cliburn Piano Competition that took place in 1989 in Fort Worth Texas, I would like to say that it is simply superb, it is interesting to say that this documentary won an Emmy Award to "Outstanding Directing in Classical Music" and a DGA Award to "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary", the film was made by the renown Peter Rosen and is a pure joy to watch from beginning to end making you feel part of this exceptional programme.
If you are involved with the piano or just love it this DVD is a must-have, start here, after watching this one you will be totally and deeply engaged, and I have no doubt that you will not want to miss the other Van Cliburn Piano Competition releases, and that you will follow this wonderful competition in the years to come, the next one will be in 2009 (last one was in 2005).
Lastly I would like to especially mention the great Alexei Sultanov who deservedly won the first prize with only 19 years-old being the youngest winner ever, his performances were absolutely superb, it was like the piano was actually singing all the time, and his technic, concentration, musicality and expressiveness were outstanding and a delight to watch, this exceptional programme is a special tribute to this unbelievably great young talent, Alexei Sultanov.

Van Cliburn - Concert Pianist (With Audio CD)

Average customer rating:

Remember well
Good biography of Van Cliburn's early years
The Legend of Van Cliburn
Those aren't the Himalayas, those are Van CLiburn's hands

Van Cliburn - Concert Pianist (With Audio CD)
Director: Peter Rosen
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Art of Piano - Great Pianists of 20th Century
The World's Favorite Piano Music
Grieg, Chopin & Saint Saens Piano Concertos / Previn, Rubinstein, London Symphony Orchestra
Van Cliburn: A Portrait - 1966
Horowitz in Moscow

ASIN: B00017HWLM
Release Date: 2004-03-09

Customer Reviews:

Remember well.......2007-06-19

I remember Van Cliburn's Moscow triumph in 1958, and this modest and thoughtful documentary tribute to Cliburn strikes a harmonious note. The performance footage is super. Typical period Russian black and white film and some odd angles, but the playing is unforgettable, at times even moving. There are two long performance clips, not the whole pieces, but very generous cuts of Liszt's Mephisto Waltz and Chopin's Scherzo #3. There's a good deal of performance footage included. I had forgotten Cliburn's touch, and found myself reminded of Stephen Hough - a vivid roundness and intelligence, and playing that, if not profound, exhudes a surfeit of noble restraint that eluded many other pianists of Cliburn's generation. It's odd that the film never mentions the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, celebrated as it is. Get this film to hear again Cliburn playing live, it's something special. Sound is superb, the footage mix is excellent throughout: interviews with musicians and friends (a nice bit from Leontyne Price who was at Julliard with Cliburn), performances, family interviews and footage. A quiet film, much like its legendary subject.

Good biography of Van Cliburn's early years.......2006-06-02

The other reviewers says it all. This is a very good documentary of one of the greatest pianist in the world. It gives you detailed pictures of Van Cliburn's life since his childhood till he won the Tchaikovsky Competition and the years shortly after that, which is until about 1960s. Then it jumps about 25 years, to the late 1980s, and tells nothing about what he was doing in most of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Not much word about the famous Van Cliburn Competition either.

This is a great documentary, but not very satisfying as most unknown part of his life wasn't explained.

The Legend of Van Cliburn.......2005-03-14

A very good biography of his great American pianist. It is good not because of what other people, musician or otherwise, say of him in this DVD as they are not very much to the point anyway. Instead, we are explained how a legend came into birth.

First of all, his musical background. Even though it is true that the finishing touch came from Mrs Lhevinne in the Julliard, it was his mother who taught him to play the piano until he was 17. His mother was not just any accomplished pianist: she was a pupil of Friedheim, himself a pupil of Lizst. There is a clip of Van sitting and listening intently to his mother at the piano: her playing was superb and the way he got spellbound was equally telling.

Furthermore, his rise came in the nick of time: he was the first American to win the International Tsaichovsky Competition ever. Moreover, the prize was won right in the midst of the Cold War. And yet the Russian audience were so spellbound by him, chasing after him bestowing on him all sort of presents in a way the far exceeded the warm reception Kissin experienced in London before or after his Albert Hall recital...

Here we have a glimpse of how he played, and also how passionately the audience applauded him and of how he responded to them on stage. From these clips we can see how spellbinding his playing was, and yet at the same time how witty he was and above all, what sort of personal charm this young artist possessed. His wit was highlighted by the short speech he made on arriving the US airport after snatching the much coveted prize.

Thereafter, he publicized a great deal, mainly by promoting classical music among the younger generation, impressing upon them that classical music is not something illusive and on the other hand, he concertized all over the country so that people in the street would say, "in Rock & Roll we have Elvis and in piano we have Van Cliburn...". Moreover, being the only US Tsaichovsky winner then, he had been playing for all the American Presidents in the White House since then. And the culmination came when he played for President Reagan's national Guest of Honour Mr and Mrs Gorbachev, helping the world to break the ice between the West and the Russians. It obviously worked, for soon afterwards the Berlin Wall was knocked down...

This DVD may be short, as clips of Van Cliburn are rare anyway. But it is quality instead of quantity that matters after all. Without a doubt, this is a very good portrayal of this very talented pianist, both of his legend and of his art.

Those aren't the Himalayas, those are Van CLiburn's hands.......2004-09-09

What you'll get here: 45 minutes of brief statements from people who
know him, a lot of clips of him in various locations, and 15 minutes of clips
from concerts. There are no complete
performances and there are no complete interviews.

It's well known that Van hated making recordings, hated forever carving
in stone the way he did something. For all the microphones and cameras
that surround him on this DVD, he's allowed virtually none of it to get
released. That makes this footage all the more precious.

Nowhere else in the world are you going to see as much of the living
breathing Van Cliburn in your TV. Nowhere else is there more footage
of his Tchaikovsky competition gala and nowhere else can you glimpse
more of him in solo recitals. You can rest assured this is the
absolute most footage of him you'll ever see.

The performance clips are from 2 concerts he gave in the late 50's in
Russia. Although the video is blurry, the sound is incredibly sharp,
undoubtedly recorded on separate equipment for an album which he never
cleared.

The few minutes of concert footage here reveal a much more vibrant,
spontaneous Cliburn than any of his studio recordings. It confirms his
belief in recordings as pristene references, live performances being
the only suitable time for spontaneity.

It's no secret that Van's early recordings are extremely rigid and
straightforward. Here for the first time we see what he was doing in
live performance during that same time period, and it's like a different pianist.

You see enough of his hands to discover he played with flat fingers
like Horowitz, stayed very close to the keyboard, and played everything
from the shoulder down. That technique resulted in the distinct,
brassy sound of his 1972 recordings but here we see it in 1960. It
took 10 years for him to transfer that tone quality to the studio.

Now there's nothing of the concerts after 1970. The accompanying CD
does not contain the performances that you see on the DVD although it
does contain the same songs. The CD is a reprint of the same studio
recordings you've known for the last 40 years. What those live
performances, especially the Chopin Scherzo, must have sounded like is
entirely up to your imagination.

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