MAY 18

Johann Jakob FROBERGER

1616 Birth of German composer and organist Johann Jakob FROBERGER in Stuttgart. d-Hericourt, France, 7 MAY 1667.

1733 Death of German composer Georg Böhm in Luneburg. b-Thuringa, 2 SEP 1661.

1737 FP of Handel's opera Berenice at Covent Garden in London.

1744 Birth of composer Joseph Beer in Bohemia. Also clarinetist.

1759 Birth of composer Charles Duquesnoy

1778 ('79?)FP of Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride in Paris.

1783 Death of Italian soprano Lucrezia Agujari (La Bastardina). b-Ferrara 1743. Debut 1764. Teachers were Abbe P Lambertini, Brizio Petrucci. Sang in the FP of Nozze di Peleo e Tetide (Paisiello). Feste d'Apollo (Gluck). Lucida e Mopsa (Colla). Eroe Cinese (Colla). Vologeso (Colla). Andromeda (Colla). Didone (Colla). Tolomeo (Colla).

1812 FP of Rossini's "Demetrio e Polibio" Opera seria.

1818 Death of Italian composer and violinist Maddalena Lombardi Sirmen in Venice. b-Venice, 9 DEC 1745.

1819 Birth of composer Julius Hopp

1823 FP in USAmerica of Haydn's Creation Charles Hupfield conducting Moravian Choir in Bethlehem, PA.

1830 Birth of Hungarian composer Karl GOLDMARK Keszthely, Austro-Hungarian Empire. d-Vienna, 2 JAN 1915. Opera, "Die Königin von Saba" (Vienna, 1875); "Merlin" (Vienna, 1886); "Das Heimchen am Herd" (based on Dicken's The Cricket on the Hearth, Vienna, 1896); "Die Kriegsgefangene" (Vienna, 1899); "Götz von Berlichingen" (based on Goethe's play , Budapest, 1902); "Ein Wintermärchen" (based on Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, Vienna, 1908). Search for Karl GOLDMARK

1836 Birth of composer Isidor Vorobchievici

1840 FP of Auber's "Zanetta, ou Jouer avec le feu" Paris.

1849 FP of Adam's "Le Toréador" Paris.

1854 Birth of Dutch composer Bernard ZWEERS in Amsterdam. d-Amsterdam, 9 DEC 1924.

1863 Birth of Russian tenor Anton SEKAR-ROZHANSKY. d-28 JAN 1952.

1866 Birth of German tenor Otto BRIESEMEISTER in Arnswalde. d-Berlin, 16 JUN 1910. Opera début as [Manrico] Il Trovatore (1893).

1874 Birth of Italian tenor Antonio FASSINO in Plobesi Torinese. d-Padova, 1913.

1875 Birth of Italian pianist and teacher Guido Alberto FANO in Padua. d- Udine, 14 AUG 1961.

1879 FP of Dominiceti's "Il lago delle fate" Milan.

1881 Birth of composer Georgi Atanasov

1883 Birth of Uruguayan composer Eduardo FABINI.

1885 FP of Anton Bruckner's String Quintet in F. Hellmesberger Quartet with guest violist, in Vienna.

1886 Birth of composer Ole WINDINGSTAD. d-1959.

1887 FP of Chabrier's Le Roi malgre lui at Opera Comique in Paris.

1892 Birth of Italian bass Ezio PINZA in Rome.  d-Stamford, CT, 9 MAY 1957. Pinza was his parent's seventh child, the first to survive infancy. The story goes that when it appeared that this baby would live, his superstitious father took the advice of a friend, "Name your boy Ezio and he'll be a singer. He'll be rich and famous, sing in Milan and Rome, and travel the world like a royal prince!" Pinza worked as a carpenter, and was a professional bicycle rider, his education was equivalent to about a sixth grade education, and he couldn't read a note of music. Pinza studied at the Bologna Conservatory, making his début as [Oroveso] Norma at Soncino, near Cremona (1914). After military service (1915-19), he began to sing in the principal Italian houses, notably at La Scala, under Toscanini (1922-1924). He was [Don Giovanni], he was [Figaro], he was [Emile de Becque] - off the stage as well as on. During the 1930s he appeared in five Covent Garden seasons, and by 1935, he had become an international star. He sang at the Salzburg Festival. After leaving the Metropolitan at the age of 56, he began a second career in musical comedy, operetta and musical films, scoring an enormous success on Broadway in South Pacific (1949). Pinza's beautiful and cultivated basso cantante, his handsome presence, engaging personality and spirited acting made him the most richly gifted and accomplished Italian bass of his day. MET Opera Début 1 NOV 1926 [Pontiff] La Vestale, 22 seasons (1926-48) 878 perf., 52 roles, 48 works. Teachers were Ruzza, Alessandro Vezzani. Pupil was Vivica Genoux. Created Tigellino in Nerone (Boito). Barak in Debora e Jaele (Pizzetti). Search for Ezio PINZA

1894 FP of Arensky's "Raphael" Moscow.

1896 Death of German bass Gustav Siehr. b-Arnsberg, 17 SEP 1837. Debut as Oroveso in Norma (Bellini) 1863. Teachers were Heinrich Dorn, Krause. Created Hagen in Gotterdammerung (Wagner). Gernot in Feen (Wagner).

1897 FP of Paul Dukas' tone-poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice with the composer conducting in Paris.

1899 Birth of German soprano Margaretha ABLER in Wiesbaden. d-27 FEB 1940.

1901 Birth of French composer Henri SAUGUET in Bordeaux. d-Paris, 12 JUN 1989. aka Jean Pierre Poupard. Opera, "Le Plumet du colonel" (Paris, 1924); "La contrebasse" (Paris, 1932); "La chartreuse di Parme" (Paris, 1939 [rev] 1968); "La gageure imprévue" (Paris, 1944); "Les caprices de Marianne" (Aix-en- Provence, 1954); "Le pain des autres" (1967-74); "Boule de suif" (Lyons, 1978); "Tistou les poices verts" (Paris, 1980). Search  for Henri SAUGUET

1901 Birth of American composer Harry Robert WILSON. d-1968.

1905 Birth of Austrian composer Erich ZEISL in Vienna. d-Los Angeles, CA 18 FEB 1959.

1907 Birth of English pianist Clifford CURZON in London. d-1982.

1909 Death of Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albeniz in Cambo-les-Bains just before his 49th birthday. b-29 MAY 1860.

1910 Death of French composer and opera singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia at age 88, in Paris.  b-Paris, 18 JUL 1821. Debut as Desdemona in Otello (Rossini) 1839. Teachers were Manuel del Popolo Vicente Garcia (her father). Joaquina Garcia (her stepmother). Pupils were Ada Adini, Desiree Artot di Padilla, Lola Beeth, Bianca Bianchi, Marianne Brandt, Anne Louise Cary, Marie Dietrich, Alberto Garcia, Marie Hanfstangel, Jeanne Gerville-Reache,Lillian Henschel, Marguerite Herleroy, Natalie Iretskaya, Marie Litta, Martha Lefler-Burckhard, Felia Litvinne George Meader, Eleonora Petrelli, Maria Philippi, Mafalda Salvatini, Erik Schmedes, Margherita Seims, Kate Santley, Anna Schoen-Rene, Aglaia Von Orgeni, Elizaveta Andre Lavrovskaya, Antoinette Sterling, Johanna Wagner, Esther Palliser. Created Fides in Prophete (Meyerbeer). Sapho in Sapho (Gounod).

1911 Death of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler in Vienna of pneumonia at age 50. b-Kalischt, Czech Republic, 7 JUL 1860.

1912 Birth of composer Richard BROOKS.

1912 FP of Albert Roussel's orchestra triptych Evocations in Paris.

1914 (1911?)Birth of Bulgarian bass Boris CHRISTOFF in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.  d-28 JUN 1993. Debut as Colline in Boheme 1947. Teachers were Muratti, Riccardo Stracciari. Search  for Boris CHRISTOFF

1917 FP of Eric Satie's Parade (Pah RAHD). Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe in Paris.

1918 Death of American tenor Evan Williams. b-Mineral Ridge, OH 7 SEP 1867. Teachers were Ben Davies, Frangon Davies, James Dennis Mehan James Sauvage, Louise Von Feilitsch.

1919 Birth of British ballet dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn in Surrey. Sadler Wells Company; danced with Rudolph Nureyev. d-21 FEB 1991.

1921 FP of D'Albert's "Scirocco" Dramstadt.

1922 Death of Italian soprano Eugenia Burzio. b-Torino, 20 JUN 1872. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1903. Teachers were Aversa, G Benvenuti, Carolina Ferni.

1922 FP of Igor Stravinsky's opera, Renard Ernest Anseremet conducting at the Paris Opéra.

1924 Birth of German born French pianist Samson FRANCOIS  in Frankfurt, Germany. d- 1970.

1925 FP of Leos Janacek's opera The Sly Little Fox in Prague.

1929 Birth of Canadian composer Roger MATTON in Grandby, Quebec.

1932 Birth of Australian composer David Sydney MORGAN in Surrey, England.

1939 FP of Douglas Moore's opera The Devil and Daniel Webster, NYC.

1940 FP of Luigi Dallapiccola's opera Volo di Notte 'Night Flight', after novel by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, in Florence.

1941 Death of soprano Milka Ternina. b-Croatia, 19 DEC 1863. Debut as Amina in Sonnambula (Bellini) 1882. Teachers were Joseph Gansbacher, Ida Winterberg. Pupil was Zinka Milanov.

1944 FP of Dallapiccola's "Volo di notte" 1 act opera, Florence.

1948 Birth of Finnish composer Mikko HEINIO.

1949 Birth of British composer Rick WAKEMAN.

1949 FP of Darius Milhaud's Sabbath Morning Service. Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco. He conducted.

1950 FP of Rogers' "The Veil" Bloomington, IN.

1950 FP of Lukas Foss's opera The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County text by Mark Twain, in Bloomington, Indiana.

1952 FP of Gotovac's "Mila Gojsalica" music drama, Zagreb.

1959 Birth of Dutch composer Norbert WISSING in Amsterdam.

1962 FP of Cikker's "Vzkrisenie" Praha.

1975 Death of American composer and arranger for the Boston Pops, Leroy Anderson in Woodbury CT at age 66. b-29 JUN 1908. Search  for Leroy Anderson

1978 FP of Henry Cowell's Quartet Romantic for 2 flutes, violin and viola. Paul Dunkel and Susan Palma, flutes; Ralph Schulte, violin; John Graham, viola. Composed in 1917.

1979 Death of Belgian composer David van de Woestijne in Brussels. b-Llanidloes, 18 FEB 1915.

1980 FP of Einem's "Jesu Hochzeit". It created a scandal because it depicted Christ as having a wife. Hamburg.

1981 FP of Joan Tower's Sequoia. American Composers Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, in NYC.

1988 FP of Philip Glass' opera The Fall of the House of Usher based on Poe at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.

1990 FP of John Harbison's Viola Concerto, soloist Jaime Laredo and the New Jersey Symphony, Hugh Wolff conducting in Bridgewater, NJ.

1993 Death of soprano Maria Gentile. b-Catania, 17 NOV 1902. Debut 1924.

1995 Death of Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov at age 45. b-29 NOV 1949.

1996 FP of Philip Glass' opera Les Enfants Terrible 'Children of the Game' based on novel by Jean Cocteau. Karen Kamensek conducting Philip Glass Ensemble at the Theatre Casino in Zug, Switzerland.

2002 Death of Argentinian composer Jorge Oscar Pickenhayn in San Carlos, Uraguay. b-Buenos Aires, 3 FEB 1921.

2002 Death of Austrian violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan in Vienna. He became a concert master at 17 and played with orchestras across Europe. b-Vienna, 28 MAY 1915.

2012 Death of German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. b-28 MAY 1925.