FORT WORTH, Texas -- For a time in Cold War America, Van Cliburn had all the trappings of a rock star: sold-out concerts, adoring, out-of-control fans and a name recognized worldwide. He even got a ...

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And he did it all with only a piano and some Tchaikovsky concertos. The celebrated pianist played for every American president since Harry Truman, plus royalty and heads of state around the world. But ...

Cliburn emerged from his sabbatical in 1987, when he played at a state dinner at the White House during the historic visit of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev leapt from his seat to give the ...