When the World Stopped to Listen: Van Cliburn's Cold War Triumph and Its Aftermath

April of 1958-the Iron Curtain was at its heaviest, and the outcome of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition seemed preordained. Nonetheless, as star musicians from across the globe descended on Moscow, an unlikely favorite emerged: Van Cliburn, a polite, lanky Texan whose passionate virtuosity captured the Russian spirit.

This is the story of what unfolded that spring-for Cliburn and the other competitors, jurors, party officials, and citizens of the world who were touched by the ...