I've purchase this recording three times before because I keep wearing them out! The first time I bought it on 8Track tape. I had to sit in our Volkswagen to play it, and my father was worried I'd wear down the car battery, but I couldn't help but listen over and over and over. It's truly a beautiful collection, that I'd recommend to everyone!

I first saw Van Cliburn perform the third movement of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto on television when I was a teenager--at the end of the piece, there was about 1/2 second delay before the audience was CHEERING!!! I recently bought this CD because it has some music that I really don't like (such as Mozart's "Rondo alla Turca", Lizt's "Liebestraum," Debussy's "Reverie," for example.) I have heard most of these compositions played by other performers (as I myself have played them all, over and over at the insistance of my teachers)--hence, the reason I didn't like them. But, that is what separates a genius like Cliburn from hackers (myself at the proverbial bottom.) His "Rondo alla turca" is so expressive that at the closing (including the sixteenth note parallel octaves) to the beautiful chords--well, Cliburn makes the piano sound like a combination of a piano, harp, and orchestral chimes!!! His performance of "Liebestraum" brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it: Debussy's "Reverie" is so romantic that an attempt to describe it would be an injustice. While there may be myriads of other pianists who can play the notes to these pieces, it is the immeasurable qualities of a genius like Cliburn to bring ANY composition he plays to life!!
THIS IS A _MUST HAVE_ CD!!! GET IT!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!

My parents bought me this as a kid. It was the first classical music I ever owned. I listed to these awesome piano tunes and was blown away. So I became hooked on classical at a time I was into metal! But it's not reaally as crazy as may sound, as every open-minded and perceptive music listener knows that metal music is the bastard child of classical. Just look at old Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, etc. Anyway, back to this Van Cliburn number. This collection of songs contains some of the most accessible and entertaining piano solos in existence, including works by all those composers you'd expect to see: Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. A must-have for piano lovers.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"