FEBRUARY 21

 Leo DELIBES

1632 FP of Landi's Il Sant 'Alessio in Rome. Composed for the opening of the Palazzo Barberini at the Rome Opera House.

1727 FP of J. S. Bach's Sacred Cantata No. 52 Ich habe genug on the Feast of the Purification, was part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig 1725-27.

1744 FP of G. F. Handel's oratorio Semele in London.

1749 FP of Handel's oratorio Susanna in London.

1791 Birth of Austrian composer Carl CZERNY in Vienna. d-Vienna, 15 JUL 1857.

1801 Birth of Czech violinist and composer Johann KALLIWODA in Prague. d- 3 DEC 1866.

1836 Birth of French ballet composer Leo DELIBES in St. Germain du Val, Sarthe. d- 16 JAN 1891.

1844 Birth of French composer organist Charles Marie WIDOR in Lyon. d-Paris, 12 MAR 1937.

1845 Birth of American coloratura soprano Emma THURSBY in Brooklyn, NY. Photo.

1857 Birth of tenor Nicolai Figner in St Petersburg. Died 13 Dec 1918 Debut in Philemon & Baucis (Gounod) 1882 Teachers, De Roxas, Camille Everardi, Francesco Lamperti Ippolit Pryanishnikov Created Hermann in Pique Dame (Tchaikovsky) Count Vaudemont in Iolanta (Tchaikovsky) Vladimir in Dubrovsky (Napravnik) Sang in premiere of Caramo (Lortzing) Francesca da Rimini (Napravnik).

1861 Death of librettist Eugène Scribe. From 1830 he collaborated with the greatest French and Italian composers; Auber, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Adam, Halévy, Donizzetti and Giuseppe Verde with Les Vêpres siciliennes in 1855.

1873 Birth of tenor Siegfried Adler in Amschelberg. Debut as Manrico in Trovatore (Verdi) 1893.

1874 Birth of Vincenzo Reschiglian Bass-Baritone Born 21 Feb 1874 Venice Died 17 Jul 1955 Created Bello in Fanciulla del West (Puccini) Pinellino in Gianni Schicci (Puccini) Brigodo in Madame Sans-Gene (Giordano) Sang in premiere of Maschere (Mascagni).

1881 Birth of English bandmaster Kenneth ALFORD (aka F.J.Ricketts, Bandmaster of the Argyll and Southerland Highlanders). d-1945. See: Col. Bogey March.

1886 FP of M. Mussorgsky's opera Khovanschina with Rimsky-Korsakov, in St. Petersburg.

1887 Birth of tenor Antonin Trantoul in Toulouse. Died 31 Aug 1965 Debut as De Grieux in Manon (Massenet) 1911 Teacher, Jean De Reszke Pupil, Jean Lafont Created Gherardo in Fra Gherardo (Pizzetti) Rodrigue in Nerto (Widor) Hippias in Noces Corinthiennes (Busser).

1891 Birth of American composer and bandmaster Karl Lawrence KING. d-1971.

1893 Birth of Spanish guitarist and teacher Andres SEGOVIA. d- Madrid, 2 JUN 1987.

1896 Birth of soprano Clara Clairbert in Brussels.  Died 6 Aug 1970 Debut as Olympia in Contes d'Hoffman (Offenbach) 1924 Pupil, Wilma Driessen.

1897 Birth of soprano Maria Nezadal in Pardubice. Debut 1924 Teachers, Joseph Bohm, Eugen Fuchs, Ferdinand Pujman, Albin Sima.

1897 FP of Alexander Glazunov's Symphony No. 6.

1907 Birth of tenor Oldrich Kovar in Prague. Debut 1938 Teachers, Hans Duhan, Egon Fuchs, Alfred Piccaver, Schonwald Sang in premiere of Mirandolina (Martinu).

1907 FP of Delius' opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, in Berlin. in Berlin.

1909 FP of Anatole Liadov's Enchanted Lake, in St. Petersburg.

1911 Gustav Mahler led the New York Philharmonic in what was to be his final public appearance. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Mahler's death, Riccardo Muti and the CSO recreated this historic concert of Italian repertoire and Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.

1914 Birth of soprano Daniza Ilitsch in Belgrade.  Died 15 Jan 1965 Debut as Nedda in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1936. 

1916 Birth of American composer Paul STOUFFER in Chambersburg, PA.

1917 FP of S. Rachmaninoff's Etudes-tableaux.

1919 Birth of tenor Martin Ritzmann in Oberschonau. Died 7 Aug 1984 Debut as Chapelou in Postillon de Longjumeau (Adam) 1951 Teacher, C Gaebler Sang in premiere of Puntila (Dessau).

1920 FP of Darius Milhaud's ballet Le Boeuf sur le Toit. 'The Bull on the Roof' in Paris.

1922 Birth of American tenor John McCOLLUM in Coalinga, CA.

1923 Birth of Russian-American violinist Zvi ZEITLIN in Dubrovina.

1923 Birth of Hungarian-Swiss pianist Bela SIKI.

1925 Death of tenor Fernando De Lucia. Born 11 Oct 1860 in Naples. Debut as Faust in Faust (Gounod) 1885 Teachers, Beniamino Carelli, Vincenzo Lombardi Pupils :- Enzo Aita, Carolina Caprile, Gennro Caracciolo, Ciro Formisano Enzo De Muro Lomanto,Alfredo Matteotti, Rodolfo Mele, Maria Nemeth, Angelo Notariello, Gianna Pederzini, Mihail Popov, Mario Podesta, Endre Rosler Ivan Petroff, Petar Raitscheff, Nina Sabatano, Georges Thill Tom Burke, Melchiorre Luise, Pet Bjorn, Brenner, Boris Cristoff Created Fritz Kobus in Amico Fritz (Mascagni) Osaka in Iris (Mascagni) Giorgio in Rantzau (Mascagni) Silvano in Silvano (Mascagni) Azim in Profeta Velato (Napoletano) Yann in Vita Brettona (Mugnone) Giorgio in Marcella (Giordano).

1927 Birth of American composer Walter S. HARTLEY in Washington, DC.

1928 Birth of baritone Andreas Agrelli in Barden. Teachers, Hans Duhan, Hermann Gallos.

1929 Birth of tenor Pekka Nuitio in Wyborg, Finland. Debut as Duke in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1958 Teachers,    Clemens Glettenberg, Olavi Nyberg.

1929 FP Respighi's Roman Festivals, Toscanini conducting NY Philharmonic Society Orch.

1940 Birth of tenor Heinz Zednik in Vienna. Deb 1964 Trabusco in Forza del Destino (Verdi) 1964 Teachers, Karl Hudez, Klein, Marga Wissman Created Director in Re in Ascolta (Berio) Hadanck in Schwarze Maske (Penderecki) Kalb in Kabale und Liebe (Von Einem) Time / Green in Wintermarchen (Boesman) Sang in premiere of Gesualdo (Schnittke) Kehraus um St Stephen (Krenek) Der Besuch der Alten Dame (von Einem).

1944 Opening performance for the New York City Opera, with Puccini's Tosca.

1945 Birth of baritone John Brocheler in Vaals, Netherlands. Teachers, Leo Ketelaars, Pierre Bernac Created Felipe / Ferdinand / Son in Juana la Loca (Menotti) Thijl in Thijl (Van Gilse) Sang in premiere of Die Erprobung des Petrus Hebraicus (Pousseur) Mare Nostrum (Kagel).

1945 Birth of soprano Lisbeth Balslav in Abrena, Denmark. Debut as Yaroslavna in Prince Igor (Borodin) 1975 Created Schustersfrau in Die Wundersome Schustersfrau (Zimmermann U).

1946 Death of mezzo-soprano Guerrina Fabbri. Born 1868 in Ferrara. Debut as Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) 1885 Teachers, A Mattioli, Galetti-Gianola Sang in premiere of Los Amantes de Teruel (Breton).

1946 FP of Roy Harris' Memories of a Child's Sunday. New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Harris.

1948 FP of Henry Cowell's Suite for Woodwind Quintet, at the McMillan Theater of Columbia University in NYC.

1949 Birth of Mexican-American flautist Elena DURAN.

1952 Death of mezzo-soprano Jeanne Gordon. Born 1884 in Wallaceberg, Canada. Debut as Amneris in Aida (Verdi) 1918 Sang in premiere of L'Oiseau Bleu (Wolff) Cleopatra's Nights (Hadley).

1957 Death of soprano Marguerite Sylva. Born 10 Jul 1875 in Brussels.  Died 21 Feb 1957 Debut as Carmen in Carmen (Bizet) 1892 Sang in premiere of Fortune Teller (Herbert).

1958 Birth of English composer Simon HOLT.

1959 Death of Dutch composer Johann Sebastian Brandts Buys in Hilversum. b-Warnsveld, 28 JUN 1905.

1961 NYC debuts of Marilyn Horne and Joan Sutherland at Town Hall in a concert performance of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda for the American Opera Society.

1972 Birth of Portugese composer Miguel Andrade GOMES.

1989 Death of soprano Erika Koth.Born 15 Sep 1927 in Darmstadt. Debut as Philine in Mignon (Thomas) 1948 Teacher, Elsa Blank, Mecklenburg, Willner Pupil, Barbara Cordes.

1996 Death of American composer and former ASCAP president, Morton Gould. Pulitzer Prize-winner, at age 82 in Orlando, FL.

2002 FP of Joseph Schwantner's September Canticle- In Memoriam. James Diaz with the Dallas Symphony, conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos.

2003 FP of Bright Sheng's Tibetan Swing by Dusseldorf Symphony in Dusseldorf, Germany.