APRIL 8

Claudio Merulo

1533 Birth of Claudio Merulo [also spelled Merlotti, Merulus, also Claudio da Correggio], organist, publisher and composer.

1692 Birth of Giuseppe Tartini, in Italy, violinist and composer.

1697 Birth of composer Pierre Prowo.

1692 Birth of Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe TARTINI, in Pirano. d-Padova, 26 FEB 1770.

1708 FP of G. F. Handel´s oratorio La Resurrezione "The Resurrection", with Arcangelo Corelli conducting at the Bonelli Palace in Rome.

1708 Birth of composer Georg Zarth.

1739 London music publisher John Walsh, Jr. publishes Handel's Trio Sonatas, Op. 5.

1756 Birth of Dutch composer Joseph GEHOT in Brussels. d-c. 1820.

1776 Birth of composer Thaddaus Weigl.

1805 F. J. Haydn, at age 73, praises the late Wolfgang Mozart's 14-year old son, Franz Xaver Mozart, at the teenager's first public concert.

1810 Death of Italian castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. b-Camerino, 19 Dec 1746. Debut in Finto Astrologo (Piccini). World premiere 7 Feb 1765 Teacher was Nicolo Porpora. Pupils were Elizabeth Billington, John Braham, Mrs Dickons, Michael Kelly, Charles Incledon, John Lacy, Nancy Storace, Elizabeth Clending, Charles Edward Horn, Gertrud Mara, Rosamond Mountain Created Alceste & Demetrius in Demetrio (Bernasconi). Cecilio in Lucio Silla (Mozart). Sang in premiere of Finto Astrologo (Piccinni); Sesostri (Guglielmi); Siroe (Traetta); Partenope (Hasse); Siamano nel Mogo (Paisiello); Armida (Rauzzini); Montezuma (Sacchini).

1843 Birth of Danish composer Asger HAMERIK in Copenhagen. d-Copenhagen, 13 JUL 1923. [aka Hammerich].

1848 Death of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, age 50, in Bergamo. b-Bergamo, 29 NOV 1797.

1858 Death of Austrian composer and publisher Anton Diabelli, at age 76, in Vienna. b-

1870 Death of Belgian composer Charles Auguste de Bériot in Brussels. b-Leuven, 20 FEB 1802.

1873 Birth of soprano Caecilie Rusche-Endorf in Dortmund. d-13 Mar 1939. Debut as Agathe in Freischutz (Weber) 1894. Teacher was Alberto Selva.

1876 Birth of American bass Henry Scott in Pennsylvania. d-2 Apr 1942. Debut 1909. Teacher Oscar Saenger.

1876 FP of A. Ponchielli´s opera La Gioconda at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

1878 Birth of American soprano Maude FAY  in San Franciso. d. there, 7 OCT 1964. MET Début: Feb. 28, 1916 [Sieglinde] Die Walküre, 2 seasons (1915-17) 2 perf., 2 works.

1878 Birth of composer Rudolf Nelson .

1881 Birth of composer Fernand Lamy.

1881 (JC, GC=20 APR) Birth of Russian composer Nikolai MIASKOVSKY.

1882 Birth of Austrian soprano Helene WILDBRUNN in Vienna. d-11 Apr 1972. Debut 1907. Teacher was Rosa Papier-Paumgartner. Pupils were Ruthilde Boesch, Liane Syneck. Created Bianca in Florentinische Tragodie (Zemlindky).

1885 Birth of composer Dimitrios Levidis.

1886 Pianist Franz Liszt gives recital for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle, in London.

1889 Birth of English conductor Sir Adrian BOULT in Chester. d-London, 23 FEB 1983. He was on staff at Covent Garden in 1914.

1894 FP of A. Bruckner´s Symphony No. 5. in Graz. Franz Schalk conducting his version of Bruckner's score. Finally published as the official version of the symphony. The original score was first performed in 1935 and published in 1936.

1895 Birth of composer Sigurdur Thordarson.

1896 Birth of composer Karl Hermann Pillney.

1897 Birth of Herbert Eimert, German composer and musicologist.

1902 Birth of Russian mezzo-soprano Maria Petrovna MAKSAKOVA in Astrachan. d-11 Aug 1974. Debut as Amneris in Aida (Verdi) 1923. Teacher was Maximillian Maksakov. [Not to be confused by her grandaughter, Maria Maksakova]

1904 Birth of composer John Antill.

1906 Birth of Canadian tenor Raoul Jobin in Quebec. d-3 Jan 1974. Debut as Tybald in Romeo et Juliette (Gounod) 1930. Pupil was Jean Bonhomme. Created Luca in Island God (Menotti). Fabrice del Dongo in Chartreuse de Parme (Sauguet).

1909 Birth of composer Olavi Pesonen.

1910 Birth of Austrian tenor Paul Kuen in Salzburg. d-2 May 1966. Debut 1933. Teachers were Adalbert Ebner, Heinrich Knote. Sang in premiere of Don Juan de Manara (Tomasi).

1919 Birth of Dutch composer Piet POST in Amsterdam. d-Leeuwarden, 15 DEC 1979.

1920 Death of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes, at age 35 in NYC. b-Elmira, NY 17 SEP 1884.

1921 Birth of German bass Walter KREPPEL in Ancona. d-Vienna, 18 OCT 2003.

1921 (9th?)Birth of Italian tenor Franco CORELLI  in Ancona. d-Milan, 29 OCT 2003. m-Loretta di Lelio (s) (1958). MET Début: Jan. 27, 1961 [Manrico] Il Trovatore, 15 seasons (1960-75) 365 perf. 19 roles.

1921 Birth of composer Jan Novak.

1927 FP of E. Varèse´s Arcana for orchestra. Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting.

1928 Birth of tenor Willi Brokmeier in Bochum. Debut 1952. Created Mark in Versuchung (Tal). Horace in Play of Love & Death (Cikker). Sang in premiere of Sim Tjong (Yun Isang).

1928 Death of Italian bass Gaetano Azzolini. b-Ferrara, 11 Sep 1876. Debut 1914. Created Mirocleto in Belfagor (Respighi). Sang in premiere of Diavolo nel Campanile (Lualdi)

1929 Birth of Austrian bass-baritone Walter Berry in Vienna. d-27 Oct 2000. Debut in Joan of Arc (Honneger) 1950. Teachers were Hans Duhan, Hermann Gallos, Endre Koreh, Josef Witt. Pupils were Inger Dam Jensen, Julianne Baird Created Franz / Director in Prozess (Von Einem). Miller in Kabale und Liebe (Von Einem); Eurymachos in Penelope (Liebermann). Sang in premiere of Irische Legend (Egk); Julietta (Erbse). The ex husband of Christa Ludwig.

1930 Birth of American baritone John Reardon in NYC. d-16 Apr 1988. Debut as Falke in Fledermaus (Strauss). Teachers were Margaret Harshaw, Ross Rossazza, Martial Singher. Created Groom in Labyrinth (Menotti). Orin Mannon in Mourning Becomes Electra (Levy); Trigorin in Seagull (Pasatieri); Miles Dunster in Wings of the Dove (Moore); Alexei Belaev in Natalia Petrovna (Hoiby); John Buchan Junior in Summer and Smoke (Hoiby).

1931 FP of D. Shostakovich´s ballet The Bolt at the Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in Leningrad.

1931 Arturo Toscanini conducts American music for the first time. Abram Chasins ´Flirtation in a Chinese Garden and Parade. Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic in NYC.

1933 Birth of composer Jaroslav Smolka.

1935 FP of B. Bartók´s String Quartet No.5, by the Kolisch Quartet at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

1935 FP of Robert BENNETT's "Maria Milibran" in New York City.

1937 Birth of German bass Hermann Christian Polster in Leipzig. Teacher was Fritz Polster.

1937 Death of American composer Arthur Foote, at age 84, in Boston. b-Salem, Massachusetts 5 MAR 1853.

1938 Birth of composer Barton Keith McLean.

1938 Birth of American tenor Vern Sutton in Oklahoma City. Debut as John in Masque of Angels (Argento). Teachers were Ethel Rader, Luigi Ricci, Roy A Schussler. Created John Faust in Faust Counter Faust (Mercadante).

1938 FP of Walter Piston´s Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting.

1940 Birth of English mezzo-soprano Meriel Dickinson in Lancashire. Teacher was Hans Karg. Sister of British composer Peter Dickinson.

1947 Birth of Italian mezzo-soprano Bruna Baglioni in Frascati. Debut as Maddalena in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1970. Teacher was Walter Cataldi-Tassoni. MET Début: Nov. 29, 1979 [Laura] La Gioconda, 3 seasons (1979-81, 82-83) 18 perf., 4 works.

1947 Birth of German tenor Walter Raffeiner in Wolfsberg. Created Silvanus Schuller in Schwarze Maske (Penderecki).

1949 Birth of German soprano Sabine HASS. d-Bagenfurt,17 FEB 1999. MET Début: Jan. 4, 1986 [Elsa] Lohengrin, 3 seasons (1985-86, 87-88, 92-93) 8 perf., 2 works.

1949 FP of L. Bernstein´s Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety by the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevutzky, Bernstein was piano soloist.

1953 Birth of English soprano Diane Montague in Winchester. Debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1977. Teachers were Rupert Bruce-Lockhart, Frederic Cox, Ronald Stear.

1953 Birth of composer Gary PHILO.

1954 Death of Austrian soprano Fritzi Scheff. b-Vienna, 30 Aug 1879. Debut as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette (Gounod). Teachers were Anna Jager (mother), Frau Schroder-Haufstaengl. Created Babette in Babette (Herbert). Mlle Modiste in Mlle Modiste (Herbert)

1957 Birth of English baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore in Essex. Debut in Castor et Pollux (Rameau). Teachers were Edoardo Asquez, Neilsen Taylor.

1959 Death of Italian soprano Mafalda Salvatini  . b-Naples, 17 Oct 1888. Teachers were Jean De Reszke, Pauline Viardot-Garcia.

1959 Death of Swiss tenor Salvatore Salvati. b-Olten Switzerland, 1884. Debut as Almaviva of Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) 1908. Pupil was Walter Raninger.

1964 Birth of English soprano Janice WATSON in London. Debut as Drusilla in Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi). Teacher was Johanna Peters.

1983 Death of Swedish baritone Sigurd Bjorling . b-Stockholm, 2 Nov 1907. Debut as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1935. Teachers were Leo Blech, Louis Conde, John Forsell, Henry Jackson Norris, Torsten Lennartsson.

1983 FP of Christopher Rouse´s Rotae Passionis "Passion Wheels" for chamber ensemble. Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman conducting in Boston.

1985 FP of Michael Torke´s The Yellow Pages for chamber quintet, at Yale University by the Yale Contemporary Players in New Haven CT.

1985 Death of Russian composer Boris Tikhonovich Kozhevnikov. b-Novgorod, 30 NOV 1906.

1989 FP of Libby Larsen´s Songs from Letters of Calamity Jane to her daughter, for soprano and orchestra, by soprano Mary Elizabeth Poorel in NYC.

1993 Death of American mezzo-soprano Marian Anderson. b-Philadelphia, 17 Feb 1899. Debut as Ulrica in Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) 9 Apr 1939. Teachers were Giuseppe Boghetti, Frank La Forge, Amanda Aldridge.

1994 Death of soprano Irene Eisinger. b-Kosel, 8 Dec 1903. Debut 1926. Teacher was Paula Mark-Neusser.

1994 FP of John Harbison's Cello Concerto. Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting in Boston.

1996 Death of English bass Donald Adams. b-Bristol, 20 Dec 1928. Teacher was Hedley Goodall.

1999 FP of Bright Sheng´s Three Songs for pipa and cello, by Wu Man; pipa and Yo-Yo Ma; cello, at The White House in Washington, DC.

2003 FP of Yehudi Wyner's Commedia. Richard Stolzman, clarinet and Emmanuel Ax, piano, in Princeton, NJ.

2004 FP of David Lang´s Loud Love Songs by Evelyn Glennie, percusionist with the Eos Orchestra/Sheffer, NYC.

2011 Death of Mexican composer Daniel Catan in Austin Texas. Obit.