Music: Jolly Good Bash

"I think I'll just have to take the gamble," said the pianist.

'Fine," said his wife. "Go and have a jolly good bash."

The ''jolly good bash" was Soviet Russia's Second International Tchaikovsky Competition, first to be held since 1958, when Louisiana-born Van Cliburn captured the prize—and Russia with it. The "gamble" for gifted young English Pianist John Ogdon, 25, was whether to go into hock and cancel several engagements in order to compete in Moscow. Last week, Ogdon won his gamble, and shared first place with veteran Soviet Pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Although the Tchaikovsky Competition is open to applicants up to the...