MAY 16

Arthur Henry Mann

1661 Jean-Baptiste Lully 1632-1687, takes position of Kings master of music at the French court.

1792 Opening of Teatro las Fenice in Venice, with final performance by tenor Gasparo Pacchiarotti.

1792 FP of Paisello's "I giuochi d'Agrigento" in Venice.

1793 Birth of Italian soprano and mezzo-soprano Benedetta Rosamunda PISARONI in Piacenza. d-6 Aug 1872. Debut 1811 in Rosa Bianca (Mayr). Teachers were Lodovico Marchesi, Moschini, Pacchiarotti,Pino, Giovanni Battista Velutti. Created Romilda in Romilda e Costanza (Meyerbeer). Almanzor in Esule di Granata (Meyerbeer). Lotario in Eufemie di Messina (Carafa). Adolfo in Sonnambulo (Carafa). Lauso in Antigone e Lause (Pacini). Serse in Temistocle (Pacini). Dejanira in Apoteosi D'Ercole (Mercadante). Argiro in Amici di Saracusa (Mercadante). Zomire in Ricciardo e Zoraide (Rossini). Malcolm in Donna del Lago (Rossini). Andromache in Ermione (Rossini). Sang in the FP of Nozze di Lammermoor (Carafa). Romito di Provenza (Generali).

1804 FP of Himmel's "Fanchon das Leiermädchen" Berlin.

1822 Birth of Dutch composer and conductor Eduard Hille

1829 FP of Bellini's "Zaira" Parma.

1833 FP of Herold's completed by Halévy: "Ludovic" in Paris.

1850 Birth of organist and composer Arthur Henry Mann. d- 1929

1851 FP of Auber's "Zéline ou La Corbeille d'oranges" in Paris with Maria Alboni (c) (1823-1894) It.

1853 Birth of French tenor Alexandre TALAZAC in Bordeaux. d-26 DEC 1892. Debut as Selim in Statue (Reyer) 22 APR 1878. Teachers were Louis-Henri Obin, Saint-Yves Bax. Created Gerald in Lakme (Delibes). Des Grieux in Manon (Massenet). Hoffmann in Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach). Mylio in Roi D'ys (Lalo). Jean in Jean de Nivelle (Delibes).

1856 FP of Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka" St. Petersburg.

1857 FP of Offenbach's "Vent du soir, ou L'Horrible Festin" in Paris.

1857 Birth of composer Juan Morel Campos

1858 Birth of composer Hanus Trnecek

1858 Birth of American composer Frank LYNES. d-1913.

1861 Birth of French tenor Albert ALVAREZ in Bordeaux. d-1 FEB 1933. Studied in Paris. Made his first appearance at the Paris Opéra [Faust] Faust (1892). He sang at Covent Garden, for ten years. Sang [Nicias] in the FP of Thaïs. At CG he sang in the FP of Massenet's Navarraise. At the Met he received $59,640 for forty performances, his fee of $1,500 a performance compared favorably with the $960 per performance paid the following season to the new leading tenor, Enrico Caruso. He had a repertory of sixty roles. Recorded on the popular Mapleson Cylinders. MET Opera Début 18 DEC 1899 [Roméo] Roméo et Juliette, 3 seasons (1899-1900, 1901-03) 88 perf., 10 roles.

1861 Covent Garden debute of soprano Adelina Patti (1843-1919) Sp. [Amina] La Sonnambula.

1868 FP of Smetana's "Dalibor" in Prague with the composer conducting. Revised in 1870.

1870 FP of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. Nicolas Rubinstein conducting, in Moscow.

1874 FP of Verdi's Messa da Requiem. Church of San Marco, Venice.

1875 Birth of Austrian tenor Bela KORNYEI in Krumau. d-22 APR 1925.

1876 Birth of American ragtime composer Charles HUNTER. d-1906.

1880 Birth of English composer Irene WIENIAWSKA in Brussels.

1883 Birth of American tenor Rafaelo DIAZ in San Antonio. d-NYC 12 DEC 1943 of cerebral hemorrhage. Was the "Lone Star Tenor of the Lone Star State." MET Opera Début 5 JAN 1918 [Nicias] Thaïs, 13 seasons (1917-25, 26-30, 33-34) 187 perf., 23 roles, 18 works.

1885 Birth of Danish soprano Tenna FREDERICKSEN in Copenhagen. d-16 MAR 1954. Debut 1906. Teachers were Jean De Reszke, J. L. Nyrop.

1887 Birth of Romanian mezzo-soprano Florica CRISTOFOREANU in Rîmnicu Sarat. d-Rio de Janeiro, 1 MAR 1960. Debut Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Teachers were Bordrilla, Filippi, Vaneri. Created Mariola in Fra Gherardo (Pizzetti). Sang in FP of Madonna Imperia (Alfano). Vedova Scaltra (Wolf-Ferrari).

1888 First public display of the flat grammaphone disk. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Invented by Emile Berliner.

1889 FP of Jules Massenet's Esclarmonde at the Paris Opéra.

1892 Birth of Austrian-born, English tenor Richard TAUBER (Ernst Seiffert) in Linz. d-London, 8 JAN 1948. Debut Tamino in Zauberflote (Mozart) 2 MAR 1913. Teacher was Carl Beines. Created Totenhaus in Eroberer (Brangts-Buys). Hein in Fremde (Kaun). Goethe in Frederike (Lehar). Octavio in Giuditta (Lehar). Sou Chong in Land des Lachelns (Lehar). Sang in FP of Perlen der Cleopatra (Straus O). Fruhlingstraume (Weinberger).

1893 Birth of Austrian-American composer Paul Amadeus PISK. d-1990.

1897 Birth of French tenor René HERENT in Cambrai. d-Paris, 22 JAN 1966. Debut as Morefontaine in Manon (Massenet) 1918. Sang in FP of Jorgen de Danemark (Challan).

1897 Birth of composer Walther Geiser

1902 Birth of Polish tenor Jan KIEPURA in Sosnowiec. d-Harrison, NY 15 AUG 1966. MET Opera Début 10 FEB 1938 [Rodolfo] La Bohème, 3 seasons (1937-39, 41-42) 18 perf., 5 roles. Debut as Mountaineer in Halka (Moniuszko) 1924. Teachers were Waclaw Brzezinski, Tadeusz Leliva. Created La Grange in Prezione Ridicole (Lattuada). Stranger in Wunder der Helaine (Korngold).

1911 Birth of Swedish baritone Hugo HASSLO in Bohuslan. d-20 JAN 1994. Debut as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart) 1940. Teachers were Joseph Hislop, Hjaldis Ingebjart.

1911 Covent Garden debut of French baritone Dinh Gilly (1877-1940) Verdi: [Amonasro] Aïda.

1912 Birth of German tenor Ernest WILHELM in Fusson. d-23 APR 1975. Debut 1941. Teacher was Paul Bender, Edith Lukaschik.

1912 (12th?)Birth of Austrian conductor Felix PROHASKA, in Vienna. Director of Vienna State Opera 1945-1956. Search  for Felix PROHASKA

1922 Birth of Austrian conductor Otmar SUITNER. Director of Berlin State Orchestra and Berlin Opera in 1960s and 1970s.

1926 Birth of composer Jan Zimmer

1928 FP of Pizzetti's "Fra Gherardo" in Milan with the composer conducting.

1929 Covent Garden debut of soprano Florence Austral  (1894-1968) Aussie. [Brünnhilde] Die Walküre.

1929 Birth of composer Osmo Uolevi Lindeman

1930 Birth of Austrian pianist Friedrich GULDA in Vienna. He died of a heart attack in Weissenbach am Attersee, 27 JAN 2000. London Times Obit. Search for Friedrich GULDA

1931 Birth of American composer Donald James MARTINO in Plainfield, NJ.

1938 Birth of American composer David CHAITKIN.

1938 Founding of The American Composers Alliance.

1941 Birth of American composer Maurice WEDDINGTON in Chicago.

1948 FP of Quincy Porter's Viola Concerto, in NYC.

1948 FP of Wallingford Rieger's Symphony No. 3, in NYC.

1949 Birth of Italian bass Ferrucio FURLANETTO  in Pordenone, Sicily. MET Opéra Début 26 FEB 1980 [Grand Inquisitor] Don Carlo, 10 seasons (1991-92, 95-96, 99-2000) through 2000, 90 perf., 11 roles, 10 works. Debut as Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1974.

1953 Birth of American composer David C. HANSON.

1953 Birth of English baroque violinist Monica HUGGETT. Search  for Monica HUGGETT

1954 Death of tenor Carl Clewing. b-Schwerin, 22 APR 1884. Teachers were Francisco D'Andrade, Wilhelm Flam, Ernst Grenzebach, Wilhelm Gruning Created Paganini in Paganini (Lehar).

1954 Birth of American composer Ray SHATTENKIRK.

1958 Birth of British tenor Christopher GILLET in London. Debut as Edwin in Gypsy Princess (Kalman) 1981. Teachers were Edgar Evans, Rudolf Pierney, Robert Tear. Created Caedmon in Caedmon (Lambert).

1959 Birth of American conductor (Dallas SO-1995) Andrew LITTON in NYC. Search  for Andrew LITTON

1960 Covent Garden debut of Swiss bass Fernano Corena (1916-1984). [Bartolo] Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

1963 Birth of Dutch composer Andre VAN HAREN in Zevenaar.

1966 FP of Ralph Shapey's Rituals in Chicago.

1966 FP of Heitor Villa-Lobos' Sinfonia No. 9. Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting.

1968 Death of Australian soprano Florence Austral. b-Melbourne, 26 APR 1892. Debut as Brunnhilde in Walkure (Wagner) 16 May 1922. Teachers were Gabrielle Sibella, Mme Wiedermann.

1969 FP of John Cage's HPSCHD for amplified harpsichord and 51 tapes, in Urbana, IL.

1969 FP of Manzoni's "Doktor Faustus" in Milan.

1971 FP of Benjamin Britten's opera Owen Wingrave. BBC-TV in England and NET in the USAmerica.

1972 FP of Jacob Druckman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Windows, for orchestra, by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

1974 FP of Leonard Bernstein's Dybuk. NYC Ballet. The choreography by Jerome Robbins, composer conducting.

1983 Death of soprano Vina Bovy. b-Ghent, 22 MAY 1900. Debut as Argentine in Deux Billets (Poise) 1918.

1990 Death of Czech soprano Marie Podvalova.  b-Prague, 5 SEP 1909. Debut as Marina in Boris Godounov (Mussorgsky) 7 Nov 1935. Teachers were Doubravka Brambergova, Anna Fassati.

1991 FP of Joan Tower's Concerto for Orchestra. St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting.

1995 Death of Icelandic soprano Maria Markan. b-Olafsvik, 25 JUN 1905. Debut as Leonora in Trovatore (Verdi) 1935.

1995 Death of Austrian soprano Gertrud Grob-Prandl.  b-Vienna, 11 NOV 1917. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1939. Teacher was Teresina Singer.