APRIL 13

Félicien DAVID

1377 Death of French poet and composer Guillaume De MACHAUT.

1713 Birth of counter tenor Pierre JELYOTTE in Lassenbe. d-11 SEP 1797. Portrait. Debut in Festes Grecques & Romaines (de Blamont) 1733. Created Platee in Platee (Rameau). Dardanus in Dardanus (Rameau). Zoroastre in Zoroastre (Rameau) Sang in premiere of Daphnis et Alcimadure (Mondonville). Zais (Rameau).

1733 (15th?) Birth of composer Johann Heinrich Zang.

1737 Handel suffers a stroke and cannot work.

1742 FP of Handel's Messiah at a music hall in Dublin. Charity event raises 400 pounds from 700 attendees.

1762 Birth of composer Karl Friedrich Horn.

1799 Birth of composer Joseph Rastrelli.

1810 Birth of French composer Félicien DAVID in Cadenet. d-St-Germain-en-Laye, 29 AUG 1876.

1816 Birth of English composer Sir William Sterndale BENNETT in Sheffield. A professor of Music at Cambridge, later Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. d-1 FEB 1875.

1821 Birth of baritone Hans Feodor Von MILDE in Petronell. b-10 DEC 1899. Debut 1845. Teachers were Manuel Garcia Jr, Franz Hauser. Created Telramund in Lohengrin (Wagner).

1830 Birth of composer Eduard Lassen.

1832 Birth of composer and singing teacher Albert RANDEGGER in Trieste. d-18 Dec 1911. Teacher was Luigi Ricci. Pupils were David Bispham, Andrew Black, Dudley Buck, Ben Davies, David Thomas Ffrangcon-Davies, Putnam Griswold, Lawrence Kellie, Liza Lehmann, Robert Watkin Mills, Robert Radford, Frederick Ranalow, Darrell Fancourt, Evangeline Florence. Son, same name, also pursued a musical career.

1835 Birth of bass Adolf SCHULZE in Molin. d-APR 1920. Teacher was Carl Voigt, Manual Garcia Jr. Pupil was George Henschel.

1839 Death of Italian tenor Domenico Ronconi. b-Rovigo, 11 JUL 1772. Pupils were Erminia Frezzolini, Giorgio Ronconi (son), Caroline Unger. Created Cavalier Di Comingio in Adelaide e Comingio (Pacini). Arrigo in Sposa Fedele (Pacini).

1854 Birth of Portugese tenor Antonio D'ANDRADE. Created Roberto in Villi (Puccini).

1865 Birth of composer Heinrich Reinhardt.

1867 Birth of English pianist and conductor William Arundel ORCHARD in London. d-at sea, 17 APR 1961.

1868 Birth of composer John Blackwood McEwen.

1873 Birth of composer Theodore Morse.

1879 (3 APR?)Birth of Italian soprano Tina POLI-RANDACCIO in Ferrara. d-1 FEB 1956. Debut as Amelia in Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) 1901. Teacher was Ortisi. Pupils were Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Stella Roman, Simone Dall'Argine. Sang in premiere of Parisina (Mascagni). Abisso (Smeraglia). Madama di Challant (Guarino). Ombre di Don Giovanni(Alfano).

1880 Death of Italian bass Carlo Cambiaggio. b-Milan, 12 DEC 1798. Debut in Elise e Claudio (Mercadante) 1829. Created Crispino in Crispino e la Comare (Ricci L & F). Sang all the parts in premiere of Terno al Lotto (Frondoni).

1883 Birth of composer Alexander Alexandrov.

1886 Birth of English pianist Ethel LEGINSKA (Liggins) in Hull. d-LA, CA 26 FEB 1970.

1886 Birth of mezzo-soprano Antarova KONKORDIA. d-6 FEB 1959.

1892 Birth of Australian soprano Gladys MONCRIEFF in Queensland, Apr. 13, 1892; d. Feb. 8, 1976.

1892 Birth of Russian soprano Beata MALKIN in Odessa. d. Sep. 24, 1973.

1894 Birth of composer Ludvig Irgens Jensen.

1895 Birth of violinist Olga Rudge.

1896 Founding of the American Guild of Organists in NYC.

1898 Birth of American tenor William MARTIN in Powell, MA. Debut as Werther in Werther (Massenet) 1923. Teachers were Leveret Merrill, A Sujol, Florence Holtzman. Created Lover in Amelia Goes to the Ball (Menotti).

1899 Birth of composer Alexander Alexandrovich Davidenko.

1906 Birth of Romanian bass Endre KOREH in Transylvania. d-21 SEP 1960. Debut as Sarastro in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1929. Teacher was Arpad Palotay. Pupil was Walter Berry. Created Albert K in Prozess (Von Einem). Caliban in Sturm (Martin).

1911 Birth of composer Nino Sanzogno.

1912 FP of BUSONI's "Die Brautwahl" The Marital Lottery in Hamburg.

1916 Birth of American conductor Emerson BUCKLEY in New York City. d-18 NOV 1989.

1919 Death of baritone David Thomas Frangcon-Davies. b-Bethesda, Carnavon 11 DEC 1855. Debut as Herald in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1890. Teachers were Latter, Albert Randeggar, William Shakespeare.

1921 Birth of composer Carlo Prosperi.

1921 Death of American mezzo-soprano Annie Louise Cary. b-Wayne, ME 22 OCT 1841. Debut as Azucena in Trovatore (Verdi) 1967. Teachers were Giovanni Corsi, Pauline Viardot-Garcia.

1922 Death of Swedish baritone Carl Lejdstrom. b-Stockholm, 25 OCT 1872. Debut 1894. Teachers were Gillis Bratt, George Ferguson, Julius Kniese, Oskar Lejdstrom, Anders Willman.

1923 (17 APR?)Birth of Italian tenor Gianni RAIMONDI in Bologna. Debut as Duke in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1947. Teachers were Gennaro Barra-Caracciolo, Ettore Campogalliani. Pupils were Manrico Biscotti, Sarah M'Pugna. MET Début: Sep. 29, 1965 [Rodolf] La Bohème, 4 seasons, (1965-69) 44 perf., 6 roles.

1925 Birth of composer Hilda Dianda.

1929 Birth of Canadian recording executive and opera manager Terence McEWEN in Thunder Bay. d-Honolulu, 14 SEP 1998. Was a general manager of the San Francisco opera.

1931 Birth of Italian soprano Anita CERQUETTI in Macerata. Debut as Aida in Aida (Verdi) 1951. Had a very short 10 year career.

1932 Birth of composer Karl Kroeger.

1934 Birth of German composer Siegfried MATTHUS.

1938 Birth of Polish American pianist, teacher and avant-garde composer Frederic RZEWSKI (are ZHEF skee) in Westfield, MA.

1941 Birth of Welsh soprano Dame Margaret PRICE in Tredegar, Wales. Debut as Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) 1962. MET Début: Jan. 21, 1985 [Desdemona] Otello, 3 seasons (1984-85, 88-89, 94-95) 19 Perf., 3 works.

1946 Birth of Welsh mezzo-soprano Della JONES in Neath South Wales. Debut as Feodor in Boris Godounov (Mussorgsky) 1970. Teachers were Denis Dowling, Maria Carpi. Created Kristin in Miss Julie (Alwyn). Dolly in Anna Karenina (Hamilton).

1952 Death of German soprano Margarethe Siems. b-Breslau, 30 DEC 1879. Debut as Margherite in Huguenots (Meyerbeer) 1902. Teachers were Mattia Battistini, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Aglaia von Orgeni, Louis Bachner. Pupil was Sigrid Onegin. Created Chrysothemis in Elektra (Strauss). Marshallin in Rosenkavalier (Strauss). Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss).

1958 23 year-old Van Cliburn of Kilgore, Texas (b. Shreveport, LA 12 JUL 1934,) first American to win first prize at Tchikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow.

1959 Death of Austrian baritione Theodor Scheidl  . b-Vienna, 3 AUG 1880. Debut as Herald in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1910. Pupil was Wilhelm Strienz. Sang in the premiere of Singing Devil (Schreker).

1959 Death of Dutch conductor Eduard van Beinum in Amsterdam of heart attack while conducting rehearsal of Mahler Sym No 3.

1960 Death of Dutch bass Siemen Jongsma. b-Amsterdam, 1909. Sang in premiere of Francois Villon (Dresden).

1963 Death of German bass-baritone Benno Zeigler. b-Munich, 8 JAN 1887. Debut as Silvio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1909. Teacher was Paul Bender. Created Husband in Von Heute auf Morgen (Schoenberg).

1982 Death of American soprano Rachel Morton. b-Webster, MA 11 SEP 1888. Debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Mozart) Dec 1924. Teachers were Frank King Clarke, Jean de Reszke, Isadora Luckstone, Gertrude Miller, Selma Nicklass-Kempner, Clara Willenbucher.

2003 FP of John Harbison's Piano Sonata No. 2. Robert Levin, piano, in Boston, MA.

2003 FP of Michael Tilson Thomas' Island Music Chamber ensemble of members of the New World Symphony, in Miami, FL.

2003 FP of Joan Tower's Percussian Quintet. New England Conservatory Percussian Ensemble, Boston, MA.