Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (2nd movement)



Van Cliburn played Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1960. In my opinion, it's got to be the most beautiful piece of music and especially this particular rendition. Van Cliburn, as an American, was playing the piece in front of the entire Soviet Leadership, yes including Nikita 'Shoe-stamping' Kruschev (google Kruschev 'shoe incident') He eventually impressed the judges so much that they awarded him the first prize, with the approval of the Soviet Leadership. A piece of musical history indeed!