Catalog Number: LSC-2252

Record Grading: Near Mint (NM or M-), Sleeve Grading: Excellent (EX)

Condition Details:

Vinyl plays nicely (play-graded). Cover looks great; a few creases near edges; light-scuffing and surface impressions (front/back); tiny surface abrasions on front; slight discoloration with darker discoloration spots on back. Inner-sleeve is original (poly-lined paper with RCA ads). Spine is easy-to-read (text is crooked) with mild-wear. Minor shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge and corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots. (Not a cut-out.)

Tracks:

• Piano Concerto No. 1, In B-Flat Minor Op. 23

About The Record:

Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. was an American pianist. At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold War. Cliburn's mother, a piano teacher and an accomplished pianist in her own right, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students, and arranged for him to start taking lessons. Cliburn developed a rich, round tone and a singing-voice-like phrasing, having been taught from the start to sing each piece. Cliburn toured domestically and overseas. He played for royalty, heads of state, and every US president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in 1879 and in 1888. It was first performed on October 25, 1875, in Boston by Hans von Bülow after Tchaikovsky's desired pianist, Nikolai Rubinstein, criticised the piece. Rubinstein later withdrew his criticism and became a fervent champion of the work. It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concerti. From 2021 to 2022, it served as the sporting anthem of the Russian Olympic Committee as a substitute of the country's actual national anthem as a result of the doping scandal that prohibits the use of its national symbols.