When the World Stopped to Listen

When the World Stopped to Listen Synopsis

April 1958: the Soviets had just launched the Sputnik, American schoolchildren were performing duck-and-cover drills in the classroom, and the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow seemed certain to crown a hometown champion. But as the world's finest pianists descended on the Russian capital, an unlikely favorite emerged: Van Cliburn, a polite, lanky Texan whose passionate virtuosity captured the hearts of the Russian people. This is the story of what unfolded that spring--for Cliburn and the other competitors, for jurors and party officials, and for the citizens of the world who were touched by the outcome. It is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most remarkable events in musical history, filled with political intrigue and personal struggle as artists strove for self-expression and governments jockeyed for prestige. And, at the core of it all: the value of artistic achievement, the supremacy of the heart, and the transcendent freedom that can be found, through music, even in the darkest moments of human history.