We learned Wednesday of the death of a luminary in the world of classical music.
American pianist Van Cliburn.
He was 78, and died in his home state of Texas.
He gained renown after winning the prestigious Tchaikovsky piano competition in Moscow in 1958.
When he went there, the Cold War was raging.
But with his triumph at the competition, Van Cliburn helped bring about a brief thaw in US-Soviet relations.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Vladimir Frumkin, a musicologist and journalist based in Washington, DC, who writes about Russian classical and popular music.
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