MAY 25

Thomas 'Blind Tom' BETHUNE

1688 Birth of composer Christian August Jacobi

1715 (JC, GC=5 JUN) FP of Handel's opera Amadigi di Gauli at the King's Theater in London.

1723 (JC, GC=14 MAY) FP of Handel's opera Flavio, re de' Langobardi.

1726 Birth of composer Giuseppi Paolucci

1746 Birth of English soprano Isabella MATTOCKS in London. d-25 JUN 1826. Created Louisa in Duenna (Linley T / Linley T). Lucinda in Love in a Village (Arne T). Theodosia in Maid of the Mill (Arnold S).

1767 Birth of composer Ferdinand Franzl

1767 Birth of composer Friedrich Johann Eck

1775 FP of Bianchi's "Eurione" Paris.

1779 FP of T. Arne's "All Alive at Jersey" in London. Composed in collaboration with M. Arne & Howard.

1806 Death of Austrian soprano Barbara Gerl. b-Vienna, 1770. Created Papagena in Zauberflote (Mozart).

1821 Birth of composer Diederich Krug

1825 Birth of German soprano Rosa Von MILDE-AGTHE in Weimar. d-25 JUN 1906. Debut 1845. Teacher was August Gotze. Pupil was Marie Ekeblad. Created Elsa in Lohengrin (Wagner). Margiani in Barbier von Bagdad (Cornelius). Chimene in Cid (Cornelius).

1847 Birth of composer Alphonse Goovaerts

1849 Birth of American composer Thomas 'Blind Tom' BETHUNE. d-1908.

1849 FP of Lortzing's "Rolands Knappen" Leipzig.

1853 FP of F. Ricci's "Il paniere d'amore" Vienna.

1863 Birth of French song and opera composer Camille ERLANGER in Paris. d-Paris, 24 APR 1919. Opera, "Le Juif polonais" (Paris, 1900); "Kermaria" (Paris, 1897); "Le juif polonais" (Paris, 1900); "Le Fils de l'etoile" (Paris, 1904); "Aphrodite" (Paris, 1906); "Bacchus triomphant" (Bordeaux, 1909); "L'Aube rouge" (Rouen, !911); "La sorcière" (Paris, 1912); ""Le Barvier de Deauville" (1917); "Forfaiture" (1921).

1869 Vienna State Opera House, aka Ringstrasse opens with Mozart's Don Giovanni sung in German. FP at this Opera house, on the Ringstrasse, in Vienna, which opened with this gala performance of Don Giovanni. Known as the opera house on the Ring, the building had taken eight years and five months to build, and had claimed two lives...its architects, August von Siccardsburg and Eduare van der Nüil, committed suicide when the Emperor Franz Joseph complained that the steps at the entrance were too shallow.

1870 FP of Leo Delibes ballet Coppelia in Paris. CD-Delibes: 3 Ballets

1878 FP of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore at Opera-Comique in London. CD-Phase 4 Stereo: Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore / D'Oyly Carte Opera Company

1882 Birth of Dutch bass-baritone Alfons SCHüTZENDORF in Holland. d-Weimar, AUG 1946. Teachers were Giuseppe Borgatti, Franz Wullner.

1888 Birth of Russian composer and pianist Anatoli ALEXANDROV in Moscow. d-Moscow, 16 APR 1982. Opera, "Bela" (Moscow,1946), "Wild Bara" (Moscow, 1957).

1889 Birth of Nowegian composer Sverre JORDAN in Oslo. d-Bergin, 10 JAN 1972.

1889 Birth of Argentinian composer Gilardo GILARDI. d-Argentina, 1963. Opera, "Ilse" (Buenos Aires,1923); "La Leyenda de Urutaú" (Buenos Aires, 1934).

1898 Birth of Russian composer and pianist Mischa LEVITSKI aka Mischa LEVITZKI.

1900 Death of Italian baritone Giuseppe del Puente in Philadelphia. Popular as Figaro and Toreador. b-Naples, 30 JAN 1841. Pupil was Joseph Carl Breil.

1901 Birth of American composer and choral conductor Max HELFMAN. d-1963.

1901 Birth of composer Milenko Zivkovic

1902 Birth of composer Helvi Lemmikke Leiviska

1904 Birth of composer Kurt George Hugo Thomas

1908 Opening of New Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires with a performance of Verdi's Aida.

1910 Birth of Italian baritone Scipio COLOMBO in Vicenza. Debut as Marcello in Boheme (Puccini) 1937. Teachers were Giuseppe De Luca, Giuseppe Venturini. Created Prisoner in Prigoniero (Dallapiccola). Bonaventura in Metamorfosi di Bonaventura (Malipiero). Sang in premiere of Dialogues des Carmelites (Poulenc)

1910 FP of Claude Debussy's piano Preludes with Voiles. Debussy at piano in Paris. CD-Debussy: Préludes for Piano, Books 1 & 2

1914 FP of Andreae's "Ratcliff" Duisburg.

1916 Death of Swedish soprano Alma Hulting. b-Karlesborg, Sweden 1867. Debut 1893. Teacher was Fritz Arlberg, Enrico Delle Sedie.

1917 Birth of Irish conductor and broadcaster John Havelock NELSON in Cork, Northern Ireland. d-6 AUG 1996.

1917 Birth of German-American baritone Heinz REHFUSS in Frankfurt. d-Buffalo, NY, 27 JUN 1988. Debut 1938. Teachers were Carl Rehfuss(father), Florentine Rehfuss-Peichert (mother). Created Oronte in Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (Martin). Sang in FP of Intolleranza (Nono).

1917 Death of Polish bass Eduard De Reszke. b-Warsaw, 22 DEC 1853. Created Re in Aida (Verdi) 22 Feb 1876. Teachers were Alba, Ciaffei, Filippo Coletti, Jean de Reszke, Giovanni Sbriglia, Steller. Pupil was Emanuel List. Created Don Diego in Cid (Massenet). Ruben in Figliuol Prodigo (Ponchielli). Gilberto in Maria Tudor (Gomes). Duc D'Albe in Patrie (Paladilhe). King in Elda (Catalani). Colonel in Lady of Longford (Bach E). Sang in FP of Elaine (Bemberg).

1919 Birth of composer Gino Negri

1925 Birth of Austrian soprano Rita BARTOS in Vienna. d-1985.

1925 Birth of Italian composer Aldo CLEMENTI.

1928 Birth of composer Frigyes Hidas

1929 Birth of American soprano Beverly SILLS aka Belle Miriam "Bubbles" Silverman,  in Brooklyn, NYC. Director NY Civic Opera from 1979 to 1989. Chairwoman of Lincoln Center 1994 to April 2002. MET Opera Début 8 JUL 1966 [Anna] Don Giovanni, 6 seasons (1965-66, 74-79) 69 perf. 6 works. Debut as Frasquita in Carmen (Bizet) 1946. Teachers were Estelle Liebling, Mary Garden, Rosa Ponselle, Amelita Galli-Curci. Created Juana la Loca in Juana La Loca (Menotti). Coloratura in 6 Characters in Search of Author (Weisgall). Search Beverly SILLS

1930 FP of Antheil's "Transatlantic" Frankfurt.

1931 Birth of Polish bass Wlodzimierz DENYSENKO in Chorzow. Debut as Basilio in Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) 1952. Teacher was Waclaw Brzezinski.

1932 Birth of Canadian baritone Norman MITTELMANN in Winnipeg. MET Operra Début 28 OCT 1961 [Herald] Lohengrin, 9 seasons (1961-65, 73-75, 76-77, 83-84, 85-86) 85 perf., 14 roles, 13 works. Debut as Marcel in Boheme (Puccini) 1958. Teacher's were Enzo Mascherini, Martial Singher.

1934 Death of English composer Gustav Holst in London. b-Cheltenham, 21 SEP 1874.

1937 Birth of German bass-baritone Dieter WELLER in Essen. MET Opera Début 13 OCT 1976 [Beckmesser] Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, 3 seasons (1976-77, 79-80, 84-85) 32 perf., 3 works. Debut 1963. Teacher was Erwin Rottgen. Created Lothar & Sigismund in Sandman (Kounadis). Argan in Eingebildete Kranke (Wolpert).

1938 Birth of Italian tenor Franco BONISOLLI in Rovereto. d-Vienna, 30 OCT 2003. Won the International Song Contest at Spoleto. Début [Ruggiero] in Puccini's La Rondine, at the Teatro Nuovo, Spoleto (1962). Prince in Prokofiev's L'Amour des trois oranges. [Nemorino] Elisir d'amore, [Rodolfo] La Bohème, the [Duke] Rigoletto, [Des Grieux] Manon, Offenbach's Hoffmann, [Giacomo] Rossin's La Donna del Lago, and [Cleomene] in Rossini's L'Assedio di Corint. U.S. début San Diego Opera, [Alfredo] with Monserrat Caballé as his [Violetta] (1965); Vienna State Opera (1968); San Francisco Opera (1969); Scottish Opera (1969; La Scala début (1969); Opera of Paris, I Vespri Siciliani (1974); In Vienna Bonisolli abandoned the cast of Il Trovatore under Karajan, during a rehearsal with the public in attendance, he left the stage in a fury and was replaced by Domingo) (1978); London, CG (1981); Berlin Opera, La Fanciulla del West (1982). Vienna State Opera, where he repeated his [Manrico] and [Loris] in Giordano's Fedora. MET Opera debut 24 FEB 1971, [Almaviva] Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 5 seasons (1970-72, 86-88, 89- 90) 25 perf., 7 works. Debut as Ruggero in Rondine (Puccini) 1962. Teacher was Alfredo Lattaro. Biography.

1938 Birth of Rumanian soprano Maria SLATINARU in Jassy. MET Opera Début 11 NOV 1986 [Tosca] Tosca, 1 season (1986-87) 2 perf., 1 work. Debut as Elisabeth in Don Carlos (Verdi) 1969. Teacher were Aurel Alexandrescu, Arta Florescu.

1939 At the original Madison Square Garden in New York City, 18,000 people waited to hear a recital by pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski. However the former premier of Poland, at the age of 78, could not perform suffering from arthritis.

1944 Benefit concert at the original Madison Square Garden in NYC.  Arturo Toscanini conducts the combined NBC Symphony and New York Philharmonic in music by Wagner, Verdi, and Sousa. It raised $100,000 for the Red Cross. During an intermission auction, New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia auctioned off Toscanini's baton for $10,000.

1946 Death of Japanese soprano Tamaki Miura. b-Tokyo, 1884. First internationaly known Japanese soprano to travel widely. Popular in the United States. She took her first lessons in Tokyo where she made her début [Santuzza] Cavaleria Rusticana (1914). In 1915, she sang in Boston [Cio-Cio-San] Madama Butterfly. She sang with Beecham during WW-I, and returned to the U.S. to sing for two seasons with the Chicago Opera. In 1920, she sang at the Monte Carlo Opera, Barcelona, Florence, and at Rome. After 1930, she spent most of her time in Japan.

1948 FP of Benjamin Britten's The Beggar's Opera based on John Gays work at Arts Theater in Cambridge England. CD-Beggar's Opera

1953 FP of Marc Blitzstein's musical The Harpies at the Manhattan School of Music in NYC.

1953 FP of Fortner's "Die Bluthochzeit" Cologne.

1955 Birth of American composer Eric CHASALOW.

1956 Birth of American composer David P. SARTOR.

1957 Birth of American composer Charles Roland BERRY.

1957 Birth of Canadian composer Aris CARASTATHIS.

1959 Birth of Czech composer and painter Vladimír FRANZ.

1961 FP of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's opera Il Mercante di Venzia 'The Merchant of Venice' at the Maggio Musicale Festival in Florence, Italy. With soprano Rosanna Carteri.

1962 FP of Anton Webern's Im Sommerwind (1904), at the First International Anton von Webern Festival at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. CD-Webern: Passacaglia, Symphony, etc

1966 Death of French baritone Andre Bauge. b-Toulouse, 4 JAN 1893. Debut as Frederic in Lakme (Delibes) APR 1917. Teachers were Anna Tariol-Bauge (Mother) Alphonse Bauge (father). Sang in FP of Beatrice (Messager).

1974 Death of English organist Arnold Grier at Great Bookham, Surrey, at age 86.

1981 Death of American soprano Rosa Ponselle.  b-Meriden, CT 22 JAN 1897. Debut as Leonora in Forza del Destino (Verdi) 15 Nov 1918. Teachers were Romano Romani, William Thorner. Pupils were Lilli Chookasian, Sherrill Milnes, James Morris, Beverly Sills, James Atherton, Spiro Malas. Created Carmelita in Legend (Breil). Search  for Rosa Ponselle

1984 FP of Stockhausen's opera Samstag von Licht 'Saturday from Light', at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

1995 Death of Argentinian soprano Adelaide Saraceni. b-Rosario, 25 NOV 1895. Debut as Rosina in Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) 1920. Teacher was Edwige Ghibaudo. Pupils were Umberto Grilli, Valerie Masterson, Emilia Ravaglia, Belen Amparan. Sang in FP of Vedova Scaltra (Wolf-Ferrari). Maristella (Pietra). Campana Sommersa (Respighi).

2001 FP of Philip Glass' Voices for pipe organ, two didgeridoos, clap sticks and narrator. Didgeridoo virtuoso Mark Atkins, Calvin Bowman, organ; Ron Murray, second didgeridoo and clapsticks; and Wurundjeri elder Joy Murphy Wandin, narrator. Celebrating the refurbishment of the grand organ at town hall in Melbourne, Australia.

2001 FP of E. P. Salonen's Fanfare for Betty dedicated to 80-year old music patron, Betty Freeman. Los Angeles Philharmonic, composer conducting.

2001 FP of David Ward-Steinman's Millennium Dances for percussion and orchestra. Soloist John Flood and the San Diego Symphony, Jung-Ho Pak conducting.