Music: The All-American Virtuoso

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Hurdle. Van's own plans include 45 U.S. concerts this summer and next season with 17 major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Minneapolis Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Symphony. Estimated gross income next season: up to $150,000. He hopes to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Brussels Fair and again in Amsterdam, and with the London Philharmonic in Britain. He would like to devote more time to composition; so far he has written only two sentimental piano pieces, Nostalgia and The Void, but he is working on a piano concerto. In the fall he would like to return to Russia with his mother and tour the country, listening to its music and studying.

But before any of these things begin to happen Van Cliburn is bracing himself to clear one high hurdle. Late Monday afternoon, May 19, if he conforms to his usual ritual as a somewhat ailing health enthusiast, he will eat three raw eggs cracked into a glass with the yolks intact and swallowed in one agonized gulp. In the evening in his dressing room, he will dose himself from a staggering array of pills and nose drops. As a tension reliever, and because he thinks it helps clear his mind, he will sit down for several minutes bolt upright, put his hands on his knees, close his eyes, inhale four times in staccato gasps through the nose until his lungs are expanded to bursting, finally exhale through his nose in four staccato installments. Finally, he will pray. Then he will walk onstage at Carnegie Hall to play the toughest concert of his life.