[4] In 1977, Toradze won the silver medal in the Fifth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.

[5] Pianist and jury member Lili Kraus later told The New York Times: "...I have never heard, and I am sure no one else has either, power and passion with such limitless potential.

"[6] In 1983, while on tour with the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, he requested asylum at the American Embassy in Madrid and made his home in the United States.

[9] He performed with almost every major orchestra in the United States, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Seattle and Washington D.C.

[14] Other recordings, for Angel/EMI, include Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Prokofiev's Seventh Piano Sonata, Stravinsky's Three Scenes from Petrushka, and Ravel's Miroirs and Gaspard de la nuit.