MARCH 4

1678 Birth of Italian composer Antonio VIVALDI in Venice. d-Vienna, 28 JUL 1741.

1765 Baptizmal of English composer Charles DIBDIN.

1776 Birth of English composer and cellist Robert LINDLEY in Rotherham. d-London, 13 JUN 1855.

1791 Mozart plays FP of his Piano Concerto No 27 at his last public performance, in Vienna.

1801 The U.S. Marine Band performed at the inaugural of Thomas Jefferson who was a music lover and violinist. He gave the Marine Band the title "The President's Own." The band has played for every presidential inaugural since.

1809 The U.S. Marine Band performed at first Presidental inaugural ball, for James Madison. The President, First Lady Dolly Madison, and guests heard popular songs and dances of that time.

1819 Birth of German composer and harpist Karl OBERTHUR in Munich. d-London, 8 NOV 1895.

1832 Birth of baritone Ivan Melnikov in St Petersburg.  Died 8 July 1906 Debut as Riccardo in Puritani (Bellini) 1867 Teachers, Lomakin, Repetto Created Prince Igor in Prince Igor (Borodin) Boris Godounov in Boris Godounov (Mussorgsky) Demon in Demon (Rubinstein) Prince Nikita Kurlyatev in Enchantress (Tchaikovsky) William Ratcliff in William Ratcliff (Cui) Kalenik in May Night (Rimsky-Korsakov) Don Carlos in Stone Guest (Dargomizhsky) Vyazminsky in Oprichnik (Tchaikovsky) Vakula in Vakula the Smith (Tchaikovsky) Tomakov in Ivan the Terrible (Rimsky-Korsakov) Tomsky in Pique Dame (Tchaikovsky) Sang in premiere of Zauberin (Tchaikovsky).

1857 Birth of Romanian soprano Elena THEODORINI in Craiova, SW Romania. d-1926.

1963 Birth of soprano Ellen Gulbranson. Born 4 Mar 1863 in Stockholm.  Died 2 Jan 1947 Debut as Aida in Aida (Verdi) 1889 Teachers, Julius Gunther, Ellen Kenneth. Blanche Marchesi Mathilde Marchesi Pupil, Eide Norena Sang in premiere of On ne badine pas avec l'amour (Pierne) Ghismonde (Fevrier).

1870 FP of Tchaikovsky's fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet.

1875 Death of baritone Louis-Augustin Lemonnier. Born 1793. Debut as Hans in Jeannot et Colin (Isouard) 1817 Created Neveu Morinval in Testament (Auber) Edmond in Emma (Auber) Prince Frederic in Le Concert a la Cour (Auber) Capitaine in Leocadie (Auber) Valmont in Le Timide (Auber) Frederic in La Fiancee (Auber) Sang in premiere of Deux Mousquetaires (Berton) Artisan (Halevy) Roi et le Batelier (Halevy) Masaniello (Carafa) Deux Mousquetaires (Boieldieu) Danilowa (Adam) Josephine(Adam) Grand Prix (Adam) Pre aux Clercs(Herold) Ludovic (Herold) L'Orphelin et le Brigadier (Ginestre) Trois jours en une heure (Romagnesi).

1877 Birth of Russian composer Alexander GEDIKE in Moscow. d-Moscow, 9 JUL 1957.

1877 FP of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Not warmly received.

1878 Death of tenor Napoleone Moriani. Born 10 Mar 1806 in Florence. Debut in Arabi Nelle Gallie (Pacini) 1832 Teacher, C.Ruga Created Carlo in Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti) Enrico in Maria di Rudenz (Donizetti) Egmondo in Duca D'Alba (Pacini) Lorenzo Alopo in Giovanni II (Coccia) Armando in Due Illustre Rivali (Mercadante) Linceo in Dirce (Peri) Luigi in Luigi Rolla (Ricci F) Enrico in Enrico II (Nicolai) Sang in premiere of Sposa di Messina (Vaccai).

1878 FP of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in Moscow.

1879 Birth of mezzo-soprano Jeanne Billa-Azema. Died 1 Mar 1967 Debut 1904 Pupils, Marthe Nespoulos, Herman Bearley.

1885 FP of Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 1. Gustav Leinhos, soloist, Meiningen Orchestra conducted by Hans Von Bulow.

1888 Birth of Dutch composer Gerard BUNK in Rotterdam. d-Kamen, Germany, 13 SEP 1958.

1895 FP of first and third movements of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 Resurrection. Berlin Philharmonic, composer conducting. The first complete performance, 13 DEC 1895 composer conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.

1898 Birth of English soprano Dora LABBETTE in Purley, Surrey. d-Purley, 3 SEP 1984. Debut as Mimi in La Boheme (Puccini) 1935 Teachers, Dinh Gilly, Liza Lehmann

1900 Birth of mezzo-soprano Adelhaid Armhold in Kiel. Teachers, Lilly Hardenfeld, Konrad von Zawilonski, Eugen Pabst.

1904 Birth of Romanian tenor Joseph SCHMIDT in Rumania. d-Zurich, 16 NOV 1942. Teachers, Frau Lerchenfield-Hrymoli, Hermann Weissenborn.

1905 (03?) Birth of Hungarian pianist Lili KRAUS. d- Ashville, 6 NOV 1986.

1905 FP of Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto, with violinist Leopold Auer in St. Petersburg.

1906 Birth of baritone Josef Knapp in Klagenfurt. Teacher, Tito Gobbi Created Govaert Flinck in Rembrandt van Rijn (Von Klenau) Sang in premiere of Rappelkopf (Lothar).

1910 Death of baritone Leopold Demuth. Born 2 Nov 1861 in Brno. Debut as Hans Heiling in Hans Heiling (Marschner) 5 Apl 1889 Teacher, Joseph Gansbacher Sang in premiere of Wintermarchen (Goldmark).

1912 Birth of German conductor Ferdinand LEITNER. Directed Stuttgart Opera, 1959-1969.

1913 Death of tenor Giovanni Dimitrescu. Born 30 Dec 1860 in Iasi, Rumania. Teachers, Giuseppe Cima, George Stephenescu, Francesco Lamperti.

1915 Birth of English violist Cecil ARONOWITZ in South Africa. d- Ipswich, 7 SEP 1978.

1915 (1916?)Birth of Spanish-American composer Carlos SURINACH in Barcelona. d-1997.

1918 Birth of mezzo-soprano Zara Dolukhanova in Moscow.  Debut 1939 Teacher, Vera Belyayeva-Tarasevich Pupil, Olga Borodina.

1921 Birth of Egyptian-American composer Halim El-DABH in Cairo, Egypt. He came to the United States in 1950, became U.S. citizen in 1961.

1921 FP of Daniel Gregory Mason's Prelude and Fugue for piano and orchestra, in Chicago.

1922 Birth of tenor Roger Gardes in Paris. Teacher, Rene Lapelleterie.

1925 Death of German-born Polish composer Moritz Moszkowski at age 70, in Paris. b-Breslau, 23 AUG 1854.

1926 Death of bass-baritone Theodor Lattermann. Born 30 Dec 1880 in Frankfurt. Debut 1907 Teacher, Andreas Dippel.

1927 Birth of American composer Robert Di DOMENICA in NYC.

1927 FP of Mexican composer Julian Carrillo's Concertino by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski.

1928 Birth of German-American organist and composer Samuel ADLER in Mannheim. Presser Publishers.

1929 Birth of Dutch conductor Bernard HAITINK in Amsterdam.

1934 Birth of Argentinian composer Mario DAVIDOVSKY in Medanos, Buenos Aires.

1934 Birth of baritone Ladislau Konya in Rumania. Debut 1953.

1936 Birth of German composer and pianist Aribert REIMANN.

1946 Birth of American cellist Ralph KIRSCHBAUM.

1950 Birth of American composer Marilynn STARK in Malone, NY.

1959 Birth of American composer Russell STEINBERG.

1960 Death of American baritone Leonard WARREN on stage at MET as 'Don Carlo' in La Forza del Destino. b-NYC, 21 April 1911. Debut as Paolo in Simon Boccanegra Teachers, Giuseppe De Luca, Sidney Dietch, Giuseppe Pais Riccardo Picozzi, Will J Stone Created Ilo in Island God (Menotti).

1965 FP in USAmerica of Ligeti's Poème symphonique for 100 metronomes, in Buffalo, NY.

1968 Birth of American conductor and composer Leanna STERIOS. Ft. Worth Ballet.

1969 Birth of Chinese composer Shueh-Shuan LIU in Chang-hua, Taiwan.

1972 Death of tenor Rudolf Petrak. Born 3 Sep 1917 in Sucany. Debut as Duke in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1943 Teachers, A Korinskej, Balzer.

1988 FP of Domenic Argento's Te Deum for chorus and orchestra. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Schola Cantorum, Thomas Swan conducting.

1971 Birth of Venezuelan composer Sef ALBERTZ.

1992 Death of Hungarian composer Sandor Veress in Bern, Switzerland. b-Kolozsvar, Hungary, 1 FEB 1907.

1995 Death of bass-baritone Noel Mangin. Born 31 Dec 1931 in Wellington, N Z. Teachers, Domenique Modesti, Joseph Hislop, Alexander Kipnis Created Dr Turtlespit in Help Help the Globolinks (Menotti) King in Taverner (Maxwell Davies) Black Will in Arden must Die (Goehr) Brown in Knife (Jones).

1995 FP of Christopher Rouse's Symphony No. 2. Houston Symphony Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach conducting.

1999 Death of baritone John Hauxvell. Born 1926 in Auckland, N Z.  Died 4 Mar 1999 Debut 1949 Teacher, E Herbert Caesari.

2003 Death of Italian Mezzo Soprano Fedora Barbieri. One of the finest voices of Italian opera, with triumphs at La Scala in Milan, New York's Metropolitan Opera and London's Covent Garden. b-Trieste, 4 JUN 1920. Andante, Obituary.

2004 FP of Rolf Wallin´s Act by The Cleveland Orchestra/Welser-Most, Cleveland, OH.