Van Cliburn, the Texas pianist who hasn`t been on the performing circuit since 1980, says he plans to return to the stage.
”Every good concert program has an intermission. I`m in the intermission, hopefully getting toward the second half of the program,” says the 50-year-old pianist, who became an American Cold War hero when he won the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958. Years later, though, his performances were considered erratic and prone to memory slips.
”I had been planning this (rest), actually, since 1975,” says Cliburn.
”I said to myself, `I want to take a little sabbatical at a time in my life when I can still enjoy it.` I`m very grateful everything worked out and I was able to do it without having to let my mother starve and not be able to feed the dog.
”Oh, I`ll play again. That`s my life.” The pianist declines to give a specific date for his return.
