FEBRUARY 8

 Giuseppe Torelli

1586? Birth of composer Jacob Praetorius. d-21 OCT 1651.

1709 Death of Italian composer Giuseppe Torelli, at age 50, in Bologna. b-Verona, 22 APR 1658.

1710 FP of Alessandro Scarlatti's opera La Principessa Fedele at the Teatro San bartolomeo in Naples.

1741 Birth of French composer Andre' GRETRY in Liège. d-Paris, 24 SEP 1813.

1810 Birth of German composer Norbert BURGMüLLER in Düsseldorf. d-Aachen, 7 MAY 1836.

1849 Death of French composer, violinist and conductor, Francois HABENECJ. b-Mezieres, 22 JAN 1781.

1874 FP of Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov at the Mavrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. DVD-Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov / Gergiev, Lloyd, Kirov.

1875 Birth of tenor Leon-Pierre Campagnola in Marseilles.  Died 11 Jan 1955 Debut as Vincent in Mireille (Gounod) 1903 Teacher, Manoury.

1875 Birth of soprano Janina Korolewicz-Wayda in Warsaw.  Died 20 Jun 1955 Debut as Hanna in Haunted Manor (Moniuszko) 1894 Teachers, A.Myszuga, Valerie Wysocki Sang in premiere of Goplana (Zelensky).

1875 Birth of soprano Georgette Leblanc in Tancarville.  Died 27 Oct 1941 Debut as Francoise in Attaque au Moulin (Bruneau) 23 Nov 1893 (Premiere) Teacher, Saint-Yves Bax Created Ariane in Ariane et Barbe Bleu (Dukas) Sang in premiere of L'Oiseau bleue (Wolff) La Mort de Tintagiles (Nougues).

1879 Birth of soprano Mizzi Gunther in Warnsdorf, Bohemia.  Died 18 Mar 1961 Debut 1897 Created Hanna Glawari in Merry Widow (Lehar) Eva in Eva (Lehar) Sang in premier of Dollarprinzessin (Fall) Sirene (Fall) Kleine Konig (Kalman) Bajadere (Kalman) Rastelbinder (Lehar) Gottergatte (Lehar) Furstenkind (Lehar) Die ideale Gattin (Lehar) Sterngucker (Lehar) Drei Wunsche (Ziehrer) Das Susse Madel (Reinhardt) Der Schatzmeister (Ziehrer) Endlich allein (Lehar) Czardasfurstin (Kalman) Faschingsfee (Kalman) Reiter der Kaiserin (Pepock).

1888 Birth of Dutch composer Matthijs VERMEULEN in Helmond. d-Laren, 26 JUL 1967.

1900 Birth of baritone Laurens Bogtman in Oudkarspel, Holland. Died 1969 Teacher, Aaltje Noordewier-Reddingius, Otto Iro Pupil, Aafje Heynis.

1903 Birth of soprano Bela Rozumova in Pribram, Died 1962 Debut as Marenka in Bartered Bride (Smetana) 1923 Teachers, Olga Borova-Valouskova, Otto Iro, Masa Fleischerova.

1904 Death of soprano Malvina Garrigues. Born 7 Dec 1825 in Copenhagen.  Died 8 Feb 1904 Debut in Robert le Diable (Meyerbeer) 1841 Teacher, Manuel Garcia Jnr Pupils, Heinrich Gudehus, Rosalie Miller.

1904 FP of Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in Helsinki. Helsingsfors Philharmonic conducted by the composer. Victor Novácek as soloist. CD-Jean Sibelius: Violinkonzert/Serenaden/Humoreske.

1906 Birth of Polish-American pianist Arthur BALSAM. aka Artur. d-NYC, 1994.

1906 Birth of bass-baritone Ferdinand Frantz in Cassel.  Died 26 May 1959 Debut as Ortel in Meistersingers (Wagner) 1927 Sang in premiere of Das Opfer (Zillig).

1907 FP of Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 with the Rosé Quartet and members of the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna. CD-Schoenberg: Gurrelieder - The Two Chamber Symphonies / Norman, Troyanos, McCracken; Ozawa, Inbal.

1908 FP of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, composer conducting, in St. Petersburg. CD-Rachmaninov: The Symphonies.

1909 Death of Polish composer Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, at age 32, near Zakopane, in Tatra Mountains.

1910 FP of A. Webern's Five Movements, Op. 5, for string quartet, in Vienna. CD-Webern: Passacaglia, Symphony, Five Pieces.

1911 Birth of bass Gerhard Frei  in Breslau. Debut as Landgraf in Tannhauser (Wagner) 1940 Teacher, Hecker, Bertermann, Otto Iro Sang in premiere of Weiber von Lyon (Kosma) Der Arme Konrad (Forest) Joe Hill (Bush).

1912 Birth of soprano Ilona Steingruber in Vienna. Died 12 Dec 1962 Sang in premiere of Moses & Aron (Schoenberg).

1912 Birth of Russian born Swiss pianist Nikita MAGALOFF in St. Petersburg.

1914 Birth of Italian tenor Giacinto PRANDELLI in Lumezzane. Debut as Rodolfo in Boheme (Puccini) 1942 Teachers, Fornarini, Edmondo Grandini Pupil, Stephano Secco Created Son in Tesoro (Napoli) Antonio in Il Dottor Antonio (Alfano) Sang in premiere of Prosperina y el Extranjero (Castro).

1915 Birth of English conductor and musicologist Newell JENKINS. d-21 DEC 1996.

1921 Death of baritone Francisco D'Andrade. Born 11 Jan 1859 in Lisbon. Debut as Amonasro in Aida (Verdi) 1882 Teachers, Corrado Miraglia, Sebastiano Ronconi, Manuel Carreira Luiz da Costa, Jose Romano Pupils, Carl Clewing, Alexander Haydter Sang in premiere of Donna Bianca (Keil).

1925 FP of Henry Cowell's EnsembleSearch Amazon.com for Cowell's Ensemble the original version for strings and 3 American Indian 'thunder-sticks. Sponsored by the International Composers' Guild at Aeolian Hall in NYC.

1925 FP of Miaskovsky's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7, in Moscow.

1928 Birth of Welsh harpist and tenor Osian ELLIS.

1932 Birth of American composer, conductor and pianist John Towner WILLIAMS in NYC. Conducted Boston Pops. Composed serious works and many film scores; Star Wars, ET, Indiana Jones and others. Bio [m-Barbara Ruick, an American singer and actress born in 1930 Pasadena, California and died in 1974 of a cerebral haemorrhage. Parents of Joseph Williams.]

1933 Birth of baritone and coach Patrick McGuigan in Dublin. Debut as Golaud in Pelleas et Melisande (Debussy) 1965 Teachers, E Herbert Caesari, Frederick Cox, Tino Pattiera, Adelio Vianni Pupils, Matthew Best, John Connell, Stephen Gadd, Glenville Hargreaves, John Harris, Henry Hereford, Keith Latham, Jeffrey Lawton Anthony Mee, Stephen Richardson, Nigel Robson, Andrew Shore Gwion Thomas, John Tomlinson.

1934 Birth of Dutch soprano Elly AMELING in Rotterdam. Debut as Ilea in Idomeneo (Mozart) 1973 Teachers, Pierre Bernac, Jo Bollekamp, Bodi Rapp, Jacoba Dresden-Dhont Gabriela Herrera.

1935 Birth of bass Tugomir Franc in Zagreb.  Died Jan 1983 Debut as Re in Aida (Verdi) 1960 Teachers, Elisabeth Rado, Zlatko Sir, Lav Vrbanic.

1937 Birth of Austrian soprano Gundula JANOWITZ.

1938 Birth of baritone Marco Bakker in Beverwijk, Holland. Debut in Orfeo (Monteverdi) 1967 Teachers, Ruth Horna, Hans Hotter, Otaker Kraus, Coby Riemens Created Student in De Droom (De Leeuw) Sang in premiere of Catiline Conspiracy (Hamilton).

1940 Birth of American composer Margaret BROUWER.

1940 Birth of American composer Talib Rasul HAKIM.

1941 Birth of American composer, flutist and composer Kay GOODMAN in Freeport, NY.

1941 Birth of tenor Kosuke Taguchi in Tottori, Japan. Debut as Beppe in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1969 Teachers, Takanosuke Watanabe, Tsuruyo Takeokaka.

1942 FP of Igor Stravinsky's Danses concertantes. Werner Janssen Orchestra of Los Angeles, composer conducting. CD-Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella/Danse Concertantes.

1943 Birth of American composer John Heilman SCHOOLEY in Nelson, PA.

1943 Birth of baritone Malcolm Donnelly in Sydney. Debut as Ceprano in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1967 Teachers, Vida Harford, Marianne Mathy Created Lentulus in Catiline Conspiracy (Hamilton).

1944 Death of soprano Lina Cavalieri. Born 25 Dec 1874 in Viterbo. Debut Nedda in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1900 Teacher Maddelena Mariani-Masi Created Ensoleillad in Cherubin (Massenet) Belle-Isle in Madamoiselle Belle-Isle (Samara).

1946 FP of Bela Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3 finished by Tibor Serly. Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting. György Sándor, soloist. CD-Bartók: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3.

1947 Birth of soprano Elke Schary in Beuthen. Debut as Blondchen in Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Mozart) 1972 Teachers, Erna Berger, Clara Ebers, Hermann Fitchow, Maria Reining.

1948 Birth of English baritone Stephen ROBERTS. Debut as Ubalde in Armide (Gluck) 1982 Teachers, Gerald English, Redvers Llewellyn, Helga Mott, Erich Vietheer.

1953 Birth of English violinist Irvine ARDITTI.

1959 FP of Elie Siegmeister's Symphony No. 3, in Oklahoma City.

1961 Death of soprano Luisa Villani. Born 15 Oct 1884 in San Francisco.  Died 8 Feb 1961 Debut as Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) 17 Mar 1907 Teacher, Vincenzo Villani (father) Created Fiora in Amore dei Tre Re (Montemezzi).

1963 FP of Benjamin Lee's (Lysniasky) Violin Concerto, in Boston.

1966 FP of Lou Harrison's Symphony on G. Cabrillo Music Festival by the Oakland Symphony, Gerhard Samuel conducting.

1973 FP of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume II for amplified piano, in New York. CD-Makrokosmos Vol. 1 & 2: 24 Fantasy Pieces after the Zodiac for Amplified Piano.

1976 Death of soprano Gladys Moncrieff. Born 13 Apr 1892 in Queensland. Teacher, J C Williamson.

1983 Death of tenor Charles Kullmann. Born 13 Jan 1903 in New Haven, Connecticut. Debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Puccini) 1929 Teachers, Harold Huni, Jiacinto Marcosano, Francis Rogers, Thomas Salignac Anna Schoen-Rene Pupils, William Brown, Elliott Palay, Felicia Weathers Sang in premiere of Das Herz (Pfitzner) Das Veilchen (Bittner).

1985 FP of Earle Brown's Tracer for six instruments and four-track tape, in Berlin.

1986 FP of Daniel Pinkham's Symphony No. 3. Plymouth Philharmonic, Rudolf Schlegel conducting in Plymouth MA. CD-Pinkham: Symphony No3; Sonata for organ No3.

1998 Death of tenor Gino Penno. Born 1920 in Felizzano. Teacher, Adriano Tocchio, Ettore Campogalliani Created Dioneo in Allegra Brigata (Malipiero) Sang in premiere of Arcangelo (Guerrini).

2001 FP of Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra's Concerto for Orchestra. Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.

2013 Death of American conductor James DePreist in Arizona. b-Philadelphia, 21 Nov 1936. Obit