FEBRUARY 24

Samuel WESLEY

1607 FP of Monteverdi's opera Orfeo, in Mantua.

1674 Death of German composer Matthias Weckman in Hamburg. b-Niederdorla, Thuringia c.1616.

1704 Death of French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier in Paris at age 78. b-Paris, 1650.

1709 Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi looses his job at the Pieta.

1711 FP of Handel's first opera Rinaldo at Queen's Theater in London. Runs for 15 performances before Handel returns to Germany.

1725 FP of G. F. Handel's opera Rodelinda in London.

1727 Handel makes application to receive British citizenship.

1730 FP of Handel's comic opera Parthenope which proves to be unpopular and runs for only seven performances.

1745 FP of J. P. Rameau's comedy-ballet La Princesse de Navarre, text by Voltaire, for the wedding of the Dauphin and Maria Teresa of Spain, at Versailles.

1766 Birth of English organist and composer Samuel WESLEY in Bristol England, son of Charles, nephew of John. d-London, 11 OCT 1837.

1768 Birth of baritone Jean-Blaise Martin in Lyons.   Died 28 Oct 1837 Debut in Marquis de Tulipano (Paisiello) 1789 Teacher, Dugazon Pupil, Gustave-Hippolyte Roger Sang in premiere of Le Nouveau Seigneur du Village (Boieldieu) Jeannot et Colin (Isouard).

1771 Birth of German pianist, piano craftsman, teacher and composer Johann Baptist CRAMER in Mannheim. d-London, 16 APR 1858.

1842 Birth of Italian composer Arrigo BOITO in Paudua. d-Milan, 10 JUN 1918.

1846 Birth of Italian composer Luigi DENZA. See: Funiculi, Finicula d-London, 26 JAN 1922.

1858 Birth of French English teacher Arnold DOLMETSCH. d- Surrey, 28 FEB 1940.

1858 Birth of baritone Eugene Oudin in New York.  Died 4 Nov 1894 Debut as Montosol in Josephine vendue par ses soeur (Roger) 1886 Teacher, C Moderati Created De Bois Gilbert in Ivanhoe (Sullivan).

1865 Birth of blind English organist and composer William WOLSTENHOLME. d- London, 23 JUL 1921.

1874 Birth of American ragtime composer George BOTSFORD. d-11 FEB 1949. Raised in the mid-west in Iowa and Nebraska. Moved to NYC as an adult composing popular tunful melodies such as Black and White rag and Honeysuckle rag and others.

1876 FP of Edvard Grieg's incidental music for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. It was part of a staged production in Christiania, Oslo, Norway.

1877 Birth of Swiss-American pianist, conductor and composer Rudolph GANZ in Zurich. Swiss America Newsletter biography. d-1972.

1877 Birth of soprano Corinne Rider-Kelsey  in Le Roy, N Y. Died 10 Jul 1947 Debut as Micaela in Carmen (Bizet) 1908 Teachers, Theodore Toedt, R A Torrens.

1883 Birth of tenor Joseph Mann in Lemberg.  Died 5 Sep 1921 Debut 1910 Teachers, Kicki, Valeric Wysocki, Strozeckiej Created Teufels in Das Hollisch Gold (Bittner).

1894 Birth of baritone Ferdinand Pour. Died 19 Jan 1939 Teacher, Egon Fuchs Sang in premiere of Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek).

1901 Birth of tenor Einer Beyron in Malmo.  Died 29 Mar 1979 Debut as Froh in Rheingold (Wagner) 1924 Teachers, Louis Bachner, John Forsell Sang in premiere Birgitta (Berg) Lycksalighetens O (Rosenberg) Engelbrekt (Berg N) Kathrin (Korngold) Marionetter (Rosenberg) Roskolnikoff (Sutermeister).

1905 Birth of Dutch composer Guillaume LANDRE in The Hague. d-Amsterdam, 6 NOV 1968.

1907 Death of composer Otto Goldschmidt. b-21 AUG 1829.

1910 FP of Jules Massenet's opera Don Quichotte with Feodor Chaliapine, at City of Monte Carlo Theater Opéra, Conductor Léon Jéhin.

1916 Birth of bass Otto von Rohr in Berlin. Died 15 July 1982 Debut as Sarastro in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1938 Teachers, Sergei Radamsky, Hermann Weissenborn Sang in premiere of Die Schwarze Spinne (Hauer). 

1924 Birth of Israeli pianist Pnina SALZMAN  in Tel-Aviv.

1928 Death of tenor Edmond Clement. Born 28 Mar 1867 in Paris. Debut as Vincent in Mireille (Gounod) 23 Nov 1889 Teacher, Victor Warot Pupil, Edith Mason Created Armand de Clerval in Therese (Massenet) Sang in premiere of Phryne (Saint-Saens) Filibuster (Cui) Vivandiere (Godard) Xaviere (Dubois) Beaucoup de Bruit pour Rien (Puget) Attaque du Moulin (Bruneau) Juif Polonais (Erlanger) Ile de Reve (Hahn) Helene (Saint-Saens) La Fille de Tabarin (Pierne) La Cabrera (Dupont).

1929 Death of French composer André Messager at age 75, in Paris. b-30 DEC 1853.

1930 Death of mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Pasqua. Born 19 Mar 1855 in Perugia. Died 24 Feb 1930 Debut as Oscar in Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) Teachers, Marietta Piccolomini, Luigia Abbadini Created Mistress Quickly in Falstaff (Verdi).

1931 Birth of bass-baritone Hajo Muller in Dobeln. Debut as Tommaso in Tiefland (D'Albert) 1951 Teachers, Rudolf Dittrich, Johannes Kemter Created Emperor in Schuhu & the Flying Princess (Zimmermann U ) Sang in premiere of Vincent (Kunada) Thomas Chatterton (Pintscher) Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (Matthus).

1932 Birth of French composer and pianist Michel LEGRAND.

1934 Birth of Italian soprano Renata SCOTTO in Savona. Debut at age 18 as Violetta in Traviata (Verdi) 1953 Teachers, Ettore Campogalliani, Emilio Ghirardini, Mercedes Llopart Arturo Merlini Pupils, Stefano Secco, Jeanette Nicolai, Linda Campanella.

1935 FP of N. Miaskovsky's Symphony No. 14, in Moscow.

1939 FP of Roy Harris' Third Symphony, conducted by Koussevitzky. It has one of the longest unbroken lines of melody in all classical music.

1946 Birth of Czech conductor Jiri BELOHLAVEK in Prague. Photo.

1947 Birth of baritone Henry Herford in Edinburgh. Debut as Forester in Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek) 1977 Teachers, Frederic Cox, Patrick McGuigan Created Boris Pasternak in Electrification of Soviet Union (Osborne).

1952 Death of bass Oreste Luppi. Born 15 July 1869 in Rome. Debut 1892 Sang in premiere of Anton (Galeotti) Maschere (Mascagni) Oceana (Smareglia).

1953 Birth of Turkish composer Selman ADA.

1954 Birth of American composer John BEEMAN.

1955 FP of Carlisle Floyd's opera Susannah at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

1956 FP of Walter Piston's Symphony No. 5, in NYC.

1958 Birth of soprano Christine Bunning in Luton. Debut 1985 Teachers, Audrey Langford, David Mason, Irmgard Seefried.

1965 Death of tenor Gino Giovanelli-Gotti. Born 30 Mar 1878 in Siena.  Died 24 Feb 1965 Debut as Silvio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1904 Teacher, Silvio Tanzi.

1967 Death of soprano Dorothea Manski. Born 11 Mar 1895 in New York. Debut 1911 Teacher, Emmy Raabe-Burg Pupils, Felicia Weathers, Eldred A Thierstein Sang in premiere of Sharazade (Sekles).

1968 Death of tenor Erich Zimmermann. Born 29 Nov 1892 in Dresden. Debut 1918 Created 1st Shopper in Peer Gynt (Egk) Jan Lievens in Rembrandt van Rijn (Van Klenau) Sang in premiere of Schneider Wibbel (Lothar) Schloss Durande (Schoeck) Ein Preussisches Marchen (Blacher).

1979 FP of Alban Berg's opera Lulu in first complete staging by Friedrich Cerha, at the Paris Opéra.

1981 Death of tenor Aldo Ferracuti. Born 1906 in Fermo. Debut 1935 Sang in premiere of Il Malato imaginario (Napoli).

1983 Death of English composer Herbert Norman Howells. b-17 OCT 1892.

1985 FP in USAmerica of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Requiem at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in NYC. FP 21 APR 1984, in Westminster Abbey, London with one time spouse, soprano Sarah Brightman.

1999 Death of composer Huub Kerstens. b-7 JUN 1947.

2000 FP of Joan Tower's The Last Dance Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall in NYC.

2002 Death of Russian-American composer and pianist Leo ORNSTEIN in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was born in December of either 1892 or 1893, making him either 108 or 109 years old. Andante, Obituary.