MARCH 18

Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni

1644 Birth of composer Gottfried Wegner.

1657 Birth of composer Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni.

1734 Birth of composer Joseph Schmitt.

1756 Birth of composer Johann Christoph Vogel.

1781 Birth of composer Gustave Vogt.

1814 Birth of soprano Caroline Grunbaum in Prague. Died 26 May 1868 Debut Emmeline in Schweizerfamilie (Weigl) Teacher, Therese Grunbaum (mother) Created Anna in Hans Heiling (Marschner).

1818 Birth of soprano Maria Nau in New York.  Died Feb 1891 Debut as Urbano in premiere of Huguenots (Meyerbeer) 1 Mar 1836 Teacher, Laure Cinti-Damoreau Created Denise in Reve d'Amour (Auber) Sang in premiere of Drapier (Halevy) Marie Stuart (Niedermeyer) Le Lacs des Fees (Auber) La Bouquetieres (Adam).

1831 Birth of tenor Jose Dupuis in Liege.  Died May 1900 Created Paris in Belle Helene (Offenbach) Piquillo in Perichole (Offenbach) Fritz in Grande-Duchesse de Geroldstein (Offenbach) Falsacappa in Brigands (Offenbach) Bluebeard in Barbe-Bleue (Offenbach) Frimousse in Petit Duc (Lecocq) Sang in premiere of Beau Dunois (Lecocq) Grand Casimer (Lecocq) Veuve de Malabar (Herve) Roussotte (Herve)

1844 Birth of Russian composer Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV in Tikhvin. d-nr St. Petersburg, 21 JUN 1908.

1850 Birth of baritone Josef Staudigl in Vienna.  Died 21 Apl 1916 Teacher, Viktor Rokitansky, Franz Krenn Pupils, Thomas Ainsley Cook, Carl Nebe.

1866 Birth of composer Dumitru Kiriac-Georgescu.

1872 Birth of composer Frank Hoyt Losey.

1876 Birth of mezzo-soprano Liva Edstrom-Jarnefelt in Vanersborg. Died 24 Jun 1971 Debut as Lady in Zauberflote 1897 Teachers, Gilles Bratt, Effort, Re Koster, August Iffert Pupils, Anne Edstrom, Brita Ewert Sang in premiere of Ran (Peterson-Berger).

1881 Birth of French composer and music critic Paul le FLEM in Paris. d- 31 JUL 1984.

1882 Birth of Italian composer Gian Francesco MALIPIERO in Venice. He was the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero (1824–87) and the uncle of Riccardo Malipiero. GFM transcribed early Italian music and wrote books on Vivaldi. Distroyed most of his early works and composed until his death. d-1 AUG 1973.

1882 Birth of American ragtime composer Frank Hoyt LOSEY in Rochester, NY. d- Erie, PA 1931.

1884 Birth of Dutch-American violinist, composer and conductor Willem Van HOOGSTRATEN. d-11 SEP 1965.

1884 Death of soprano Anne Bishop. Born 9 Jan 1810 in London. Died 18 Mar 1884 Debut 1831 Teacher, Henry Bishop (later husband) Created Rosalie in Vascello di Gama (Mercadante)

1886 Birth of German tenor Rudolf LAUBENTHAL in Dusseldorf Died 2 Oct 1971 Teacher, Lilli Lehmann Pupil, Horst Laubenthal (adopted son).

1887 Birth of American composer Clara EDWARDS. d-1974.

1888 Birth of tenor Louis Graveure   in London.  Died 12 Apr 1968 Debut in Lilac Domino (Cuvillier) 1914

1898 Birth of composer Otto Jochum.

1889 Birth of Russian-American pianist Alexander BOROVSKY in Latvia. d-Waban, MA 1968. Studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Came to the US in 1941, appeared regularly in public and made many recordings.

1898 Birth of soprano Ofelia Nieto in Santiago di Compostela.  Debut in premiere of Maruxa (Vives) 1914 Teacher, Lorenzo Simonetti Created Matilde in Esclava (Mauri) Sang in premiere of El Avapies (Del Campo) Caminante (Sanchez de Fuentes Eduardo) La Dolores (Breton).

1899 Birth of Bulgarian song composer Pantcho VLADIGEROV. (Baker's Dictionary states he was born in Zurich, March 13, 1899, 16 hours following the birth of his non-identical twin brother, Lubin, who became a violinist) d- Sofia, 8 SEP 1978.

1901 Birth of composer Piotr Perkowski.

1902 FP of Arnold Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht for string sextet in Vienna.

1902 In a Milan hotel room, Enrico Caruso makes first operable classical recording. He recorded ten arias for The Grammophone Company and was paid $5000.

1904 FP of Anatole Liadov's symphonic poem Baba Yaga in St. Petersburg. (Old calendar: 5 MAR)

1905 Birth of American pianist, Ives cataloger-editor and teacher John KIRKPATRICK in NYC. d-Ithaca, NY, 1991. He devoted nearly 10 years to mastering the complexities of the Ives Concord Sonata with Ives. (Not to be confused with English musician John Kirkpatrick.

1910 First opera by an American composer performed at the MET in NYC. Frederick Shepherd Converse's The Pipe of Desire.

1914 Birth of composer Cesar Guerra Peixe. 

1916 Birth of composer Louis Toebosch.

1923 FP of Anton Bruckner's Sym in f in Klosternenberg, Germany.

1926 ('25?) Birth of baritone Jean Christoph Benoit in Strasbourg Debut as Guglielmo in Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart) 1952 Teacher, Gabriel Dubois Created Impresario in Eurydice (Damase) Sbrigani in Monsieur de Pourceangnac (Martin) Sang in premiere of Caprices de Marianne (Sauguet) Comme il vous Plaira (Hasquenoph) Madame De (Damase) Lavinia (Barraud) Princesse Pauline (Tomasi) La Passion de Gilles (Boesmans).

1927 FP of Serge Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. Composer was soloist with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

1929 Birth of bass John Macurdy in Detroit, Mich. Debut as Hebrew in Samson et Delilah (Saint-Saens) 1962 Teachers, Avery Crew, Boris Goldovsky, Thelma Votipka Created Agrippa in Antony & Cleopatra (Barber) Basso Cantante in 6 Characters in Search for Author (Weisgall) Ezra Mannon in Mourning becomes Electra (Levy) Sang in premiere of Wuthering Heights (Floyd).

1929 Birth of soprano Lotte Rysanek. Teacher, Rudolf Grossmann Sang in premiere of Hochzeit am Bodensee (Stoltz).

1929 Birth of composer Ctirad Kohoutek.

1930 Birth of American conductor Maurice PERESS in NYC. (Kansas City Sym 1974-80).

1933 Birth of bass-baritone Edward Allen Baird in Kansas City. Debut as Grenvil in Traviata (Verdi) 1963 Teachers, Hardin van Deurson, Chase Baromeo, Ralph Herbert, Joseph Blatt Boris Goldovsky Sang in premiere of The Shepherdess & the Chimney Sweep (Smith) Created Obadiah & Esau in The Samuel Wrestler (Adler).

1934 Birth of soprano Enriquette Tarres in Barcelona. Debut as Leonora in Trovatore (Verdi) 1956 Created Ester in Spleen (Benguerel) Sang in premiere of Madchen aus Domrery (Klebe) Edipo y Jocasta (Soler).

1934 Birth of composer Pavle Despalj.

1937 Death of French composer Mélanie (Mel) Bonis. b-21 JAN 1858.

1940 Death of soprano Lola Beeth. Born 23 Nov 1860 in Cracau. Debut as Elsa in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1882 Teachers, Desiree Artot de Padilla, Rosa De Ruda, Louise Dustmann Francesco Lamperti, Pauline Viardot-Garcia Pupils, Kathe Heidersback, Ursula van Dieman Sang in premiere of Donna Diana (Hoffmann) Der Vasall von Szigeth (Smareglia).

1943 Birth of Japanese violist Nobuko IMAI [photo]. Biography

1944 Birth of English Opera administrator Nicholas SNOWMAN. Former General director Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The Opéra national du Rhin.

1947 Death of Dutch composer Willem Pijper. b-8 SEP 1894.

1949 FP of Peter Mennin's Symphony No. 4 The Cycle in NYC.

1950 Birth of American conductor James CONLON.

1950 Birth of German bass Jan-Hendrik ROOTERING.

1956 Birth of Argentinian composer Eduardo ALONSO-CRESPO.

1957 Birth of Bulgarian composer Gheorghi ARNAOUDOV in Sofia, Bulgaria.

1961 Birth of Polish composer Hanna KULENTY in Biaystok, Poland.

1961 Death of soprano Mizzi Gunther. Born 8 Feb 1879 in Warnsdorf, Bohemia.  Debut 1897 Created Hanna Glawari in Merry Widow (Lehar) Sang in premier of Dollarprinzessin (Fall) Kleine Konig (Kalman) Reiter der Kaiserin (Pepock) Schatzmeister (Ziehrer) Das Susse Madel (Reinhardt) Das Furstenkind (Lehar) Gottergatte (Lehar) Eva (Lehar) Die Ideale Gattin (Lehar).

1966 Birth of American composer Stephen LIAS.

1966 Birth of American composer Donald Reid WOMACK.

1967 Death of mezzo-soprano Hedy Gura. Born 1893 in Munich. Died 18 Mar 1967 Sang in premiere of Die Heirat (Martinu).

1970 Death of tenor Giordano Paltrinieri. Born 1890 Created Dall-Occhio in Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai) Sang in premiere of L'Ombre di Giovanni (Alfano).

1970 FP of Roger Sessions' Rhapsody for orchestra, in Baltimore.

1972 Death of Gunther Ambrosius Baritone Born 11 Dec 1910 Hildesheim Died 18 Mar 1972 Teacher :- Julius van Raatz-Brockmann Sang in premiere of Kluge (Orff)

1973 Death of tenor Lauritz Melchior.  Born 20 Mar 1890 in Copenhagen. Debut as Silvio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 2 Apr 1913 Teachers, Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, Paul Bang, Victor Beigel, Ernst Grenzebach, Vilhelm Herold Pupil, William Cochran.

1994 Death of American composer William Bergsma at age 72, in Seattle.

2004 FP of Augusta Read Thomas´ Tangle. Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Robertson, in Chicago, IL.