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The Tchaikovsky competition, which has helped launch the careers of stars like the pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy and Daniil Trifonov and the violinist Gidon Kremer, has sought a role in cultural diplomacy since the inaugural contest in 1958, when the American pianist Van Cliburn clinched the gold medal at the height of the Cold War, a feat that was seen as a sign that art could transcend politics.

Vladimir Ashkenazy played all four concertos on four consecutive nights with the London Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Daniel Barenboim at the hall in 1968.

Ben Ashkenazy, chief executive and chairman of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment in a message left with his assistant.

I’m thinking of Koussevitzky leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1945; Karajan leading the Berlin Philharmonic in 1965; Ashkenazy leading the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1980.

“It’s not an event, and it’s not a festival,” says Tao Ruspoli, who co-founded the Bombay Beach Biennale with Stefan Ashkenazy and Lily Johnson White in 2016.