On winning the Tchaikovsky competition in 1990, Boris Berezovsky left Russia after only three years of study at the conservatory.

ECONOMIST: Classical music in Moscow

Several speakers referred to what made Cliburn famous: winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, when he was just 23.

NPR: Van Cliburn Remembered As Gifted Pianist

During the Cold War, relations between the US and Soviet Union were eased when Cliburn won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the age of 23.

BBC: Bush remembers Van Cliburn at memorial

Mr. Isacoff is at work on a book about the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition.

WSJ: Van Cliburn: A Russian Was Supposed to Win

The classical pianist Van Cliburn's Cold War performance when he won the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition at 23 also was selected.

BBC: Pink Floyd album to be preserved by US Library

Van Cliburn's Cold War piano performance in Moscow when he won the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition at 23 also was selected.

WSJ: Sounds of Simon, Garfunkel chosen for preservation