APRIL 26

1567 Birth of composer Nicolas Forme

1603 Birth of composer Francesco Nigetti

1738 FP of G. F. Handel's opera Xerxes at the King's Theater in the Haymarket in London.

1762 (25th?) Birth of French tenor Pierre-Jean GARAT in Bordeaux. d-1 MAR 1833. Teacher was Franz Beck. Pupils were Mme Barbier-Walbonne, Marie-Julie Boulanger, Alexandrine Branchu, Guillaume Cassel, Giuseppina Ronzi De Begnis, Roland Desparamons, Mlle Duchamp, Cecile Duret, Alexis de Garaude, Nicolas Levasseur, Louis Nourrit, Louis Antoine Ponchard, Marie Sophie Ponchard, Mme Rigaut.

1783 At 13 years of age Beethoven is appointed keyboard performer court orchestra in Bonn.

1783 FP of M. Arne's "Tristram Shandy" in London.

1784 FP of Salieri's "Les Danaïdes" in Paris.

1796 Birth of composer Auguste-Matthieu Panseron

1802 FP of Isouard's "La Statue ou Femme avare" in Paris.

1806 - Birth of composer Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch, composer

1821 Birth of American composer John Gordon McCURRY. d-1866.

1822Birth of composer Jan Albert van Eyken, composer/organist

1824 FP of Carafa's "L'Auberge supposée" in Paris.

1834 - Birth of composer Horatio Richmond Palmer, composer

1847 Birth of English composer Sir Alfred Scott GATTY.

1854 Birth of German bass Georg SIEGLITZ in Mainz. d-3 NOV 1917. Debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1880. Sang in premiere of Barenhauter (S Wagner). Le Donne Curiose (Wolf-Ferrari). I Quattro Rusteghi (Wolf-Ferrari).

1856 FP of Halévy's "Valentine d'Aubigny" in Paris.

1860 FP of Campana's "Almina" in London.

1862 FP of Suppe's "Die Kartenaufschlägerin" in Vienna.

1863 Birth of French tenor Scaremberg, Emile SCAREMBERG in Besançon. d- 26 FEB 1938.

1865 Birth of Costa Rican composer of religious music Alejandro MONESTEL.

1875 Birth of American composer Natalie Curtis BURLIN. d-1921.

1879 Birth of Danish baritone Albert HOEBERG in Copenhagen. d-21 JUL 1949. Debut in Kain (D'Albert) 1904. Teacher was Julius Hey. Pupil was Poul Hansen.

1880 Birth of Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, Michel FOKINE in St. Petersburg.

1881 Birth of Yugoslavian composer Alexander SAVINE in Belgrade. d-Chicago, 19 JAN 1949. Opera, "Xenia" (Zürich, 1919); with his wife Lillian Bauvelt. Taught at the Musical Academy Winnipeg, Canada. Director of the opera department at the Institute of Musical Art, New York (1922-24); moved to Chicago (1929).

1884 Birth of Norwegian soprano Eide NORENA in Horten, nr Oslo. d- Lausanne, 19 NOV 1968. MET Opera Début 9 FEB 1933 [Mimi] La Bohème, 6 seasons (1933-38) 22 perf., 6 works. Debut as Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) 1907. Teachers were Ellen Gulbranson, Raimund Von Zur Muhlen.

1891 Death of French tenor Charles Marie Ponchard. b-Paris, 17 NOV 1824. Debut in Ame en Peine (Flotow). Teacher was Louis Ponchard (father). Pupil was Albert Vaguet.

1891 Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky arrives in New York City.

1894 Birth of Australian soprano Florence AUSTRAL aka Mary Wilson in Melbourne. d-15 MAY 1968. Won a scholarship at the Melbourne Conservatory (1914). Début Covent Garden [Brünhilde] The Die Walküre (1922). Sang in a concert version of Gotterdammerung and Bach's Mass in B Minor, in NYC (1927). She suffered from arteriole sclerosis and her operatic performances became less frequent. She continued to sing into the early 1940s. Following World War II, she took up permanent residence in Australia, and taught at the conservatory in Newcastle, N.S.W. Teachers were Gabriele Sibella, Mme Wiedermann.

1897 Death of Italian tenor Roberto Stagno in Genoa. b-Palermo, 1836. m-soprano Gemma Bellincione. MET Opera Debut 26 OCT 1883 [Manrico] Il Trovatore, 1 season (1883-84) 51. perf., 11 works. Debut as Rodrigo in Otello (Rossini) 1862. Teachers were Giovanni Lamperti. Pupil was Gemma Bellincioni. Created Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. Sang in premiere of Labilia (Spinelli). Rudello (Ferroni). A Santa Lucia (Tasca). Mala Vita (Stagno).

1899 FP of original version of Jean Sibelius' First Symphony. Composer conducting in Helsinki. The final version was FP by the Helsinki Philharmonic in Stockholm, 4 JUL 1900, on tour conducted by Robert Kajanus.

1900 Birth of American violinist and Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster (1926-1940), Joseph FUCHS, in NYC. Known for his performances of works by Ben Weber, Nikolai Lopatnikoff and Walter Piston. He taught music at Juilliard from 1946 until his death.

1901 Death of Russian mezzo-soprano Anna Yakovlevna Vorobyeva-Petrova. b-St. Petersburg, 14 FEB 1816. Debut as Pippo in Gazza Ladra (Rossini). Teachers were Sapienza, Mikhail Glinka. Created Khivria in Sorochintsky Fair (Mussorgsky). Vanya in Life for the Tsar (Glinka). Ratmir in Ruslan & Ludmilla (Glinka).

1901 FP of Hüe's "Le Roi de Paris" in Paris. Jean Noté (b) (1859-1922) Fr. [Longnac] (1901).

1906 Birth of composer Leopold SPINNER in Lwow (Lemberg) Austria (now Poland). d-12 AUG 1980.

1910 Birth of composer Erland von KOCH.

1910 - Birth of composer Ernst Tittel, composer

1914 Birth of British composer Professor Wilfrid MELLERS.

1915 FP of Paul Hindemith's String Quartet No. 1 in C, Op. 2, at Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt.

1916 - Birth of composer Arnoldus Christian Vlok van Wyk, composer

1920 - Birth of composer Juan C Lampe, Aruba, pianist/composer

1920 (1924?)Birth of Australian tenor Raymond NILSSON in Sydney, New South Wales. Created 2nd Young Man in Blood Moon (Dello Joio). Bramble in Our Man in Havana (Williamson). Headmaster in Sleeping Children (Easdale). Sang in premiere of English Eccentrics (Williamson).

1921 Birth of German mezzo-soprano Marga HOFFGEN in Mulheim. d-7 JUL 1995. Teachers were Anna Erler-Schnaudt, Hermann Weissenborn.

1922 Birth of British ballet director Dame Margaret SCOTT, founding director, Australian Ballet School.

1922 - Birth of composer Paul-Andre Gaillard, composer

1923 FP of Respighi's "Belfagor" in Milan. Margaret Sheridan (s) (1889- 1958) Ir; Francesco Merli (t) (1887-1976) It; and Mariano Stabile (b) (1888-1968) It.

1925 Birth of Austrian soprano Wilma LIPP in Vienna. Vienna State Opera from 1945; Covent Garden from 1950.

1926 - Birth of composer Oldrich Frantisek Korte, composer

1926 FP in USAmerica of Monteverdi's opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1642) 'The Coronation of Poppea', at Smith College in Northampton, MA.

1930 FP of Vittadini's "La Sagredo" La Scala.

1934 (1939?)Birth of Yugoslavian soprano Olivera MILJAKOVIC in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Début, (1960). Teachers were Gina Cigna, Josip Raivez, Ludwig Weber.

1935 Birth of American composer Conrad SUSA. d-21 NOV 2013

1935 Death of Russian composer Victor Ewald in Leningrad. b-St. Petersburg 27 NOV 1860.

1936 FP of Grisar's "Sarah" in Paris.

1941 Birth of American composer John MITCHELL in Hollywood, CA.

1943 Death of German soprano Else Gentner-Fischer. b-Frankfurt, 5 SEP 1883. Debut 1905. Created Wife in Von Heute auf Morgen (Schoenberg).

1949 Birth of British ballet dancer and choreographer Peter SCHAUFUSS.

1950 Birth of Belgian composer Michel BERO in Melin.

1951 Death of American composer John Alden Carpenter in Chicago at age of 75. b-28 FEB 1876.

1951 FP of Ralph Vaughan Williams opera The Pilgrim's Progress Covent Garded, London.

1953 Birth of English soprano Patrizia KWELLA.

1955 Birth of Gisele Ben-Dor an American-Israeli orchestra conductor of Uruguayan origin.

1959 Birth of Swedish baritone David ALER in Stockholm.

1959 FP of John Cage's Fontana Mix in NYC.

1961 Birth of Canadian baritone Mark TINKLER in Toronto. Debut as Morales in Carmen 1986. Teacher was Nicholas Powell.

1965 Death of German bass-baritone Michael Bohnen. b-Cologne, 2 MAY 1887. Debut as Caspar in Freischutz (Weber). Teachers were Louis Bachner, Schulz-Dornburg, Fritz Steinbach. Created Rappelkopf in Rappelkopf (Blech). Holofernes in Holofernes (Von Reznicek). Title Role in Stier von Olivera (D'Albert).

1965 FP of Charles Ives' 4th Symphony. Posthumously under conductors Leopold Stokowski, Jose Serebrier and David Katz, leading the American Symphony Orchestra and members of the Schola Cantorum.

1966 Birth of American composer Jerilyn SYKES.

1966 Death of Russian soprano Maria Kuznetsova in Paris. b-Odessa, 1880. Debut as Marguerite in Faust 1905. Teachers were William Thorner, Joachim Tartakov. Created Cleopatra in Cleopatra (Massenet). Fausta in Roma (Massenet). Fevronia in Invisible City of Kitezh (Rimsky-Korsakov). Sang in Premiere of Tarass Boulba(Samuel-Rousseau). Venise (Gunsbourg).

1966 Final performance at MET Opera by soprano Licia Albanese.

1967 Death of American bass-baritone James Pease. b-Franklin Indiana, 9 JAN 1916. Debut as Mephistopheles in Faust Nov 1941. Created Socrates in Pallas Athene Weint (Krenek). Grigoris in Greek Passion (Martinu).

1968 Birth of Polish-American composer Laura ANDEL.

1972 Birth of Russian pianist Nikolai LUGANSKY in Moscow.

1977 Birth of American guitarist and composer David NIELSEN.

1990 FP of John Harbison's Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra. Los Angeles Philharmonic, André Previn conducting in L.A., CA.

1991 Death of French-born American composer and arranger Leo Noël Arnaud, age 86, in Los Angeles. Composed theme Bugler's Dream which had 'legs' as theme for the Olympic Games for ABC-TV.

2002 FP of Michael Hersch's Symphony No. 2. Pittsburgh Symphony, Mariss Jansons conducting.

2003 FP of Joan Tower's Incandescent. Emerson String Quartet, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.