APRIL 21

William Knyvett

1546 Birth of composer Arcangelo Crivelli

1672 Birth of composer Johann Philipp Kafer

1730 Birth of composer Antonin Kammel

1749 Birth of composer Johann Michael Malzat

1749 FP of Handel's Royal Fireworks against his wishes, as its official premiere was scheduled for 27 APR. This public rehearsal at Vauxhall Gardens had 12,000 in attendance, which caused traffic jams on London Bridge. [Julian calendar, Gregorian calendar, 2 MAY].

1772 Death of soprano Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray Favart. See Her portrait. Her husband, Charles Simon Favart. b-Avignon 15 JUN 1727. Debut in Fetes Publiques by Charles-Simon Favart. Pupil was Louise Dugazon.

1776 Death of soprano-castrato and composer Filippo Finazzi near Hamburg. b-Bergamo, 1710. Created Temistocle in his own Opera Temistocle 16 Feb 1746.

1779 Birth of composer William Knyvett.

1814 Birth of composer Beni Egressy. d-1851.

1824 Birth of composer Anselmo Clave.

1829 20 year old composer Felix Mendelssohn arrives in London for his first visit.

1845 FP of Albert Lortzing's opera Undine at the Stadttheater in Magdeburg.

1853 Birth of composer Charles-Theodore Malherbe, composer

1854 - Wladyslaw Rzepko, comp

1871 - Vojtech Rihovsky, composer

1871 Birth of German composer and conductor Leo BLECH. d-Berlin, 25 AUG 1958. Opera, "Aglja" (1893); "Cherubina" (1894); "Das War Ich" (1902), "Aschenbrödel" (1905); "Versuegelt" (1908); "Die Strohwitwe" operetta, (1920).

1880 Birth of American soprano Estelle LIEBLING in NYC. d-25 SEP 1970. MET Opera Début 24 FEB 1902 [Marguerite] Les Huguenots, 2 seasons (1901-02, 03-04) 4 perf., 4 works. Debut as Lucia di Lammermoor 1898. Teachers were Mathilde Marchesi, Selma Nicklass-Kempner. Pupils were Beverley Sills, Lucy Monroe, Jessica Dragonette. Kenneth Schon, Jean Tennyson, John Philip Modenos.

1882 Birth of Canadian tenor W. H. ANDERSON. d-12 APR 1955.Pupil was Morley Meredith.

1887 Death of American baritone Harry De GARMO in Detroit. Debut 1910.

1888 Birth of American composer and teacher Felix DEYO. d-1959.

1889 FP of G. Puccini's opera Edgar at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

1889 Birth of Russian-American violinist, composer and teacher Efrem ZIMBALIST at Rostov-on-the-Don. Head of Curtis Institute of music from 1941 to 1968. m-Singer Alma Gluck, 1914, she died in 1938. In 1943 m-Mary Louise Curtis Bok founder of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. d-Reno, NV 22 FEB 1985. Son, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and grandaughter, Stephanie Zimbalist, popular actors. Opera: "Landara" (Philadelphia, 1956); "Honeydew" (musical comedy, NY, 1920).

1891 Death of Dutch composer Johannes Worp in Groningen. b-Broek in Waterland 24 DEC 1821.

1892 Birth of Russian composer and inventor of the electric instrument "La Croix Sonore", Nicolas OBOUHOV, in Moscow.

1892 Birth of composer Jaroslav Kvapil

1899 Birth of composer Clement D'Hooghe

1899 Birth of American composer and teacher Randall THOMPSON in NYC. Taught at Curtis in Philadelphia until 1941. d-Boston, 9 JUL 1984. Opera: "Solomon and Balkis" (New York, CBS, 1942, Cambridge MA, 4/14/1942); "The Nativity according to St Luke" (Cambridge, MA, 1961).

1901 Birth of Spanish composer Juan Julian BAUTISTA in Madrid. d-Buenos Aires, 8 JUL 1961.

1902 Birth of Polish baritone Jerzy CZAPLICKI in Warsaw. d-18 APR 1992.

1906 Birth of lyric tenor Giovanni MALIPIERO in Milan. d-11 APR 1970. Debut as Duke in Rigoletto 1930.

1911 Birth of American baritone Leonard WARREN [Warrenoff] in NYC. d-4 MAR 1960 on stage at the MET as Don Carlo in La Forza Del Destino. Debut as Paolo in Simon Boccanegra 13 JAN 1939. MET Opera Début 13 JAN 1939 [Paolo] Simon Boccanegra, 22 seasons (1938-60) 654 perf., 26 roles, 24 works. Teachers were Giuseppe De Luca, Sidney Dietch, Giuseppe Pais, Riccardo Picozzi, Will J. Stone. Created Ilo in Island God (Menotti).

1907 Birth of composer Antoni Szalowski

1915 Birth of composer Andor Kovach

1916 (22nd?)Birth of American violinist and conductor Yehudi MENUHIN in NYC.d- Berlin, 12 MAR 1999 age 82.

1917 Birth of Israeli painter, violist and conductor Emanuel VARDI. Vardi on CD.

1917 FP of C. Debussy's Sonata No. 2 for flute,viola, and harp, at a concert of the Société Musicale Indépendante by the trio of Manouvirier in Paris.

1918 FP of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony in Petrograd.

1920 Birth of Italian composer and conductor Bruno MADERNA in Venice. d-Darmstadt, 13 NOV 1973. Opera: "Satyricon" (1973); "Don Perlimplin" (radio opera RAI, 1962); "Hyperion" `Lirica in forma di spettacolo' Venice Festival, 1964, a composite of "Dimensioni III, Aria de Hyperion," and tape); "Von A bis Z" (Dramstadt, 1970).

1921 Birth of mezzo-soprano Sieglinde WAGNER in Linz, Austria. Debut as Erda in Siegfried (Wagner) 1943. Teachers were Carl Hartmann, Luise Willer. Sang in premiere of Juliette (Erbse).

1921 Death of soprano-castrato Alessandro Moreschi. b-Rome, 11 NOV 1858. The last known Castrato and the only one to record. Teacher was Gaetano Capocci.

1922 FP of Frederick Converse's Symphony No. 2. Boston Symphony, Pierre Monteux conducting.

1927 Birth of Italian soprano Suzanne SARROCA in Carcassone. Created Madame De in Madame De (Damase).

1931 Birth of bass-baritone Bengt RUNDGREN in Karlskrona, Sweden. Debut as Commendatore in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1962. MET Opera Début 8 MAR 1974 [Hagen] Götterdammerung, 2 seasons (19 73-75) 16 perf., 3 works. Teachers were Ragnar Hulten, Arne Sunnergard. Created Lasse in Herr von Hancken (Blomdahl).

1933 Birth of American composer Arthur CUSTER.

1933 Birth of American composer Easley BLACKWOOD in Indianapolis.

1936 Birth of composer Anthony Joseph Gnazzo

1936 Birth of Swiss organist and harpsichordist Lionel ROGG.

1937 FP of A. Copland's play-opera for high school The Second Hurricane at the Grand Street Playhouse in NYC. Professional Children's School, Henry Street Settlement adult chorus, and the Seward High School student chorus, with Lehman Engle conducting and Orson Welles directing. Actor Joseph Cotton particepated for fee of $10.

1939 Birth of English composer and pianist John McCABE in Liverpool. Recorded all of Haydn's sonatas.

1939 Debut of Leonard Bernstein as a conductor, leading his own incidental score to The Birds at Harvard, Cambridge, MA.

1942 Birth of German soprano Karin EICKSTAEDT in Dessau. Debut as Queen of the Night in Zauberflote (Mozart). Teachers were Helga Forner, Dagmar Freiwald-Lange.

1942 FP of L. Bernstein's Clarinet Sonata. David Glazer and the composer at the piano in Boston, MA.

1946 Birth of Bulgarian soprano Galia JONCHEVA, aka Galia YONCHEVA, in Sofia. Debut as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) 1969. Teachers were Marie Brand, Christo Brumbarov, Spiliopoulou.

1948 FP of Ralph Vaughan William' Sym no. 6. Royal Albert Hall, Sir Adrian Boult conducting the BBC SO, in London.

1950 Birth of American conductor Richard BERNAS.

1951 Death of Swedish soprano Olive Fremstad. b-Stockholm 14 MAR 1987. Debut as Azucena in Trovatore (Verdi) 21 MAY 1895. Teachers were F. E. Bristol, Lilli Lehmann. Created Iolanthe in Wald (Smyth).

1952 Birth of American soprano Jill FELDMAN in Los Angeles, CA.

1958 Death of bass Giulio Neri  . b-Siena 21 MAY 1909. Photo. Debut 1935. Teacher was Ferraresi.

1961 Death of American tenor James Melton at 57. b-Moultrie, GA, 2 JAN 1904.

1966 Birth of Chinese composer Melissa HUI in Hong Kong.

1970 Birth of American composer Allen James TEAGUE in Aurora, MN.

1973 FP of Sire Arthur Bliss' Variations for orchestra. Leopold Stokowski conducting in London.

1979 MET Opera Debut of American bass Ara Berberian [Kecal] the Bartered Bride, 18 seasons (1978-89, 90-97) 333 perf., 37 roles., 33 works. b-Detroit, 1932. Attended the University of Michigan. Repertoire includes over 150 different operatic roles. He is especially noted for his interpretations of Osmin in Mozart's The Abduction From the Seraglio, and Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

1985 FP of Morton Feldman's For Philip Guston for chamber ensemble, in NYC.

1988 FP of L. Bernstein's Missa Brevis Atlanta Symphony Chorus conducted by Robert Shaw.

1994 FP of John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1, AIDS Symphony inspired by a friend's death.

2004 FP of Nathan Currier´s GAIAN VARIATIONS, ORATORIO ON TEXTS OF JAMES LOVELOCK, LOREN EISELEY, AND LEWIS THOMAS. The New York Virtuoso Singers, The Canticum Novum Singers; soloists Elizabeth Keusch, soprano, Marietta Simpson, alto, John Aler, tenor, Kevin Maynor, bass; piano soloists Emma Tahmiziàn and Judith Lynn Stillman; special guest appearances by Anne Akiko Meyers, violin, Shanghai String Quartet, Chris Turner, harmonica, John Bullard, banjo., Brooklyn Philharmonic, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum. Avery Fisher Hall, New York City.