Van Cliburn - at the XIV Tchaikovsky competition

Van Cliburn @ 1st Tchaikovsky competition, 1958

Last night, an honoured guest was sitting in the Moscow conservatory hall listening to the first 3 performances of the piano final, a master pianist who won the first Tchaikovsky competition in 1958, Mr Van Cliburn.

From Wiki:

"Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (born July 12, 1934) is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958, when at age 23, he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War."

When he was asked by the webcast hosts Ms Irina Tuszinceva & Mr John Rubinstein if he still gets inspired by the young pianists today he replied: 

" Everyone comes with their own ideas, and we, as audience' members, are taken through each performer's garden to see how they feel, what do they hear, what do they perceive. And that's so interesting. Always."

I couldn´t put it better myself!