OCTOBER 31 Today in classical music history

1566 Death of English playwright, poet, composer, actor, courtier, theater director and teacher; Richard EDWARDS. b. 1524.

1724 FP of G. F. Handel's opera Tamerlano at the King's Theater in the Haymarket. London debut of Italian tenor Francesco Borosini in a Handel composition. CD-Handel: Tamerlano

1744 Death of Italian composer Leonardo Leo in Napoli. b-San Vito Degli Schiavi, 5 AUG 1694. 

1768 Death of Italian composer Francesco Maria Veracini in Firenze. b-Firenze, 1 FEB 1690. Search Amazon.com for Francesco Maria Veracini

1788 FP of CHERUBINI's "La Molinarella" Paris.

1789 FP of DALAYRAC's "Raoul, Sire de Créqui" Paris.

1831 FP of AUBER, w/com. Batton, "La Marquise de Brinvilliers" Paris. Featuring selections by Hérold, Auber, Batton, Berton, Blangini, Boieldieu, Cafa, Cherubini and Paër.

1833 (? 12 NOV 1833) Birth of Alexander Porfir'yevich BORODIN  in St Petersburg. d. St. Petersburg, Feb. 17, 1887. Search Amazon.com for Alexander Porfir'yevich BORODIN

1839 FP of ADAM's "Le Brasseyr de Preston" Paris.

1865 FP of Johannes Brahms' Theme and Variations in d from slow movement of Brahms' String Sextet No. 1 in Frankfurt am Main. Search Amazon.com for Brahms' Theme and Variations

1866 FP of Jacques Offenbach's operetta La Vie Parisienne at the Palais-Royal in Paris. CD-Vie Parisienne

1866 Opening of the Steinway Hall in NYC at 14th east of Fourth Avenue. The major concert hall prior to the opening of Carnegie Hall.

1870 Death of Hungarian composer Mihály Mosonyi aka, Michael Brand at age 55, in Pest. b-1815. Portrait. 

1872 Birth of Austrian composer Carl LaFITE in Vienna.

1874 FP of Offenbach's "Madame l'archiduc" Paris.

1875 FP of Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 4 in c, Op. 44, conducted by Edouard Colonne, composer was soloist, in Paris. CD-Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 1-5.

1876 Birth of French-American flautist-conductor Georges BARRERE in Bordeaux. Search Amazon.com for Georges BARRERE. 

1877 Birth of American baritone Oscar Seagle, in Chattanooga, TN. d. Dallas, Dec. 19, 1945.Search Amazon.com for Oscar Seagle

1877 Death of English composer George Alexander Macferren in London.

1879 FP of MILLÖCKER's "Gräfin Dubarry" operetta, Vienna.

1884 FP of MILLÖCKER's "Der Feldprediger" operetta, Vienna.

1887 FP of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, aka Spanish Caprice in St. Petersburg. Richard Strauss conducting. CD-Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite; Kabalevsky: The Comedians; Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol / Kondrashin

1890 Birth of American composer Carl Hugo GRIMM in Zanesville, OH. d-Cincinnati, Oh 1978. Search Amazon.com for Carl Hugo GRIMM

1891 FP of Mascagni's opera L'amico Fritz, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. w/Fernando de Lucia (t) [Fritz]; Emma Calvé (s) (1858-1942) Fr. CD-Mascagni - L'amico Fritz / Freni, Pavarotti, Sardinero, Gavazzeni

1894 Birth of American composer Aaron AVSHALOMOV. d-26 APR 1965. Search Amazon.com for Aaron AVSHALOMOV

1902 Birth of English composer Freda SWAIN. d-1985. Search Amazon.com for Freda SWAIN

1906 FP of Massenet's opera Ariane, in Paris. Search Amazon.com for Massenet's opera Ariane

1906 Birth of American composer Louise TALMA, in Arcachon, France. d-Saratoga Springs, NY 13 AUG 1996. Louise TALMA Society. Search Amazon.com for Louise TALMA

1909 Birth of Swedish baritone Erik Sjoberg in Nexoe. d. Nov. 8, 1967.

1914 FP of MOORE's "Memories" Seattle.

1917 FP of Kálmán's "Die Faschingsfee" operetta, Vienna.

1923 FP of E. D'Albert's three-act opera Mareika von Nymwegen, in Hamburg.

1923 FP of BRUNEAU's "Le jardin du paradis" Paris.

1923 FP of D'ALBERT's "Mareike von Nymwegen" Hamburg.

1924 FP of Paul Hindemith's Kammermusik No. 2, Op. 36, no. 1. Clemens Kraus conducting with pianist Emma Lübbecke-Job, in Frankfurt. CD-Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 2, 3, 6, & 7

1925 FP of ATANASOV's "Tzveta" Sofia.

1932 FP of Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto in G. Composer performed as soloist, in Berlin. CD-Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Sviatoslav Richter

1933 Birth of English harpsichordist Colin TILNEY. Search Amazon.com for Colin TILNEY

1945 Birth of American composer Janice G. AUGUSTUS in Cleveland, OH.

1947 Birth of English composer Howard SKEMPTON in Chester. Search Amazon.com for Howard SKEMPTON

1947 FP of Carlos Chávez Toccata for percussion, in Mexico City. CD-Carlos Chavez: Chamber Works

1949 Birth of Cuban-American composer and conductor Odaline de la MARTINEZ in Matanzas. Search Amazon.com for Odaline de la MARTINEZ

1949 FP of Mark Blitzstein's opera Regina in NYC. Based on 'The Little Foxes' by Lillian Hellman. CD-Regina

1950 Death of Brazilian composer Octavio Pinto in Sao Paulo. Search Amazon.com for Octavio Pinto

1952 Birth of Dutch composer and oboist Maud SAUER.

1955 FP of Alan Hovhaness's Symphony No. 2 Mysterious Mountain. Houston Symphony, Leopold Stokowski conducting. CD-Hovhaness: Mysterious Mountain

1961 Birth of American composer Mike EDGERTON in Racine, WI.

1966 FP of Igor Stravinsky's The Owl and the Pussycat his last work which was dedicated to his wife Vera Stravinsky, in Los Angeles. CD-Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky

1967 FP of Richard BENNETT's  "Penny for a Song" comic opera; London.

1968 FP of Lucas Foss' Paradigm in NYC. CD-Foss: 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird & Chamber Selections

1970 FP of Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, in Washington, D.C. CD-Crumb: Ancient Voices Of Children

1985 FP of Ned Rorem's String Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw conducting. Search Amazon.com for Rorem's String Symphony

1989 Death of Swiss composer Conrad Beck in Switzerland.

1995 Death of English composer Alan Bush in Herts. b-London, 22 DEC 1900.