MAY 28

Anton Raaff

1608 FP of Monteverdi's opera L'Ariana, and ballet Il ballo delle ingrate in Mantua. Manuscript is lost.

1710 Baptismal of English composer Thomas ARNE. b-12 Mar 1710. d-1788.

1730 Death of Italian composer Leonardo Vinci. (Not Leonardo Da Vinci).

1732 FP of Handel's "Acis and Galatea" London.

1737 Birth of American composer and publisher Josiah FLAGG in Woburn, MA. Started first organized orchestral group in USA.

1763 Birth of Scottish composer Nathaniel GOW. Scottish song publisher.

1765 Birth of composer Jean Baptiste Cartier

1777 Birth of composer Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees

1778 Birth of composer Friedrich Westenholz

1779 Birth of Irish singer, poet and composer Thomas MOORE in Dublin. d-Wilts, 25 FEB 1852.

1780 Birth of composer Joseph Frohlich

1787 Death of German composer Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father, at age 67, in Salzburg. b-Augsburg, 14 NOV 1719.

1797 Death of German tenor Anton Raaff. b-Gelsdorf, 6 MAY 1714. Debut 1736. Teachers were Antonio Mario Bernacchi, Ferrandini. Pupil was Ludwig Fischer, Franz Christian Hartig. Created Idomeneo in Idomeneo (Mozart). Cato in Catone in Utica (Piccinni). Temistocle in Temistocle (Bach J C). Lucio Silla in Lucio Silla (Bach J C). Gunther in Gunther von Schwarzburg (Holzbauer). Amasi in Nitteti (Conforto).

1798 Birth of composer Josef Dessauer

1805 Death of Italian composer Luigi Boccherini in Madrid. b-Lucca, 19 FEB 1743.

1827 FP of Spontini's "Agnes von Hohenstaufen" Act I only, Berlin and 2nd version, 6/12/ 1829; rev., Berlin, 12/6/1837.

1830 FP of Halévy & de Ruolz' "Attendre et courir" Paris.

1830 Birth of composer Karoly Filtsch

1836 Death of Czech composer Anton Reicha at age 66, in Paris. b-Prague, Czech Republic, 26 FEB 1770.

1841 Birth of Italian composer, conductor and pianist Giovanni SGAMBATI in Rome. d-Rome, 15 DEC 1914.

1844 Birth of composer Leon Felix Augustin Joseph Vasseur

1866 FP of Flotow's "Zilda, ou La Nuit des dupes" Paris.

1855 Birth of American music patron Edward J. de COPPET, who founded the Flonzaley Quartet (named for his Geneva summer home).

1871 FP of Dvorák's "Kraál a uhlír" 1st version (1871) Prague, 1929; 2nd version (1874) Nov. 24, 1874; rev. Prague, 6/15/1887. [Associate Bill Fodaor add: Based on all the references I could find about the performance history of this opera, if there was a FP in 1872, it had to have been only the overture of Dvorak’s original version, as Smetana returned the entire opera to Dvorak as “impossible to stage.” From 1873–74, Dvorak rewrote the score in its entirety, which revised opera had its premiere in 1874. He later revised that score in 1887. The opera, with its original score, apparently wasn’t produced until 1929.]

1875 Birth of American band music composer Fred JEWELL in Worthington, IN. d-Worthington, 11 FEB 1936. Composed over 170 works for band. He led the Barnum & Bailey Circus Band and ran a band music publishing house.

1876 Death of bass Wilhelm Detmer. b-Breinum, 29 JUN 1808. Debut in Unterbrochene Opferfest (Winter) 1834. Teacher was Ludwig Spohr. Created Stefano Colonna in Rienzi (Wagner). Tannhauser in Tannhauser (Wagner).

1877 Birth of Italian tenor Alberto CAFFO in Bassano. d-Milan, 1 JUN 1931.

1878 Birth of Canadian soprano Marie Louise EDVINA aka Martin and Lucienne Juliette in Vancouver. d-London, 13 NOV 1948. Debut as Marguerite in Faust (Gounod) 15 Jul 1908. Teacher was Jean de Reszke. Search Marie Louise EDVINA

1883 Birth of Czech-Moravian conductor Vaclav TALICH in Kromeriz. d-1961. Conductor of Prague Philharmonic, 1918. Bio: Vaclav TALICH.

1883 Birth of English composer and organist George DYSON in Halifax. d-Winchester, 28 SEP 1964.

1883 Birth of Italian composer Riccardo ZANDONAI.

1883 Birth of composer Luigi Perrachio

1886 Birth of Russian-American conductor Nikolai SOKOLOFF in Kiev (Ukraine) First conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.

1888 Birth of French pianist Germaine SCHNITZER. d-18 SEP 1982.

1888 Birth of Belgian baritone Tilkin SERVAIS in Brussels. d-6 JUN 1961. Debut 1913. Teacher was Desire Demest.

1889 Birth of composer Jose Padilla

1893 Death of Mexican composer Felipe Villanueva in Mexico City. b-Tecamac, Estado Mexico, 5 FEB 1862.

1896 Birth of Dutch composer Marius MONNIKENDAM in Haarlem. d-22 MAY 1977.

1898 FP of Sullivan's "The Beauty Stone" London.

1900 Death of English musicologist Sir George Grove in London, age 79.

1903 Birth of German-English conductor Walter GOEHR.

1904 Birth of Hungarian baritone Alexander SVED in Budapest. d-9 JUN 1979. Debut as Di Luna in Trovatore (Verdi). Teachers were Mario Sammarco, Riccardo Stracciari, Bela Szabados. Pupil was Bela Adolbert. First studied violin at the conservatory of Budapest. Sang in Berlin and Milan. Début: Budapest [Count di Luna] Il Trovatore (1928). He made his first appearance at the Vienna Staatsoper in (1936), and continued to sing there until (1939). He also sang at Covent Garden (1936); Salzburg Festivals (1936-38). In 1938, he appeared at La Scala, Macbeth. He returned to Hungary and rejoined the Budapest opera (1950). MET Opera Début 24 DEC 1940 [Renato] Un Ballo in Maschera, 8 seasons (1940- 46, 47-48, 49-50) 85 perf., 12 roles.

1904 FP of revised version of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at Brescia.

1904 Birth of composer Shalva Mikhaylovich Mshvelidze

1906 FP of Cui's "Snezhnïy bogatïr" Yalta.

1909 Birth of Austrian-American conductor Thomas MARTIN in Vienna d-NYC, 1984. Staff conductor and chorus master for over forty years with both the Metropolitan Opera and the NYCO. He and his Wife Ruth, were noted for their English translations of opera libreti.

1913 Birth of Soviet composer Tikhon KHRENNIKOV, in Elets.

1913 Death of tenor Alex Ritter von Bandrowski. b-Lubachzov Galcia, 22 APR 1860. Debut 1881. Teacher was Antonio Sangiovanni. Created Manru in Manru (Paderewski).

1915 Birth of Austrian violinist Wolfgang SCHNEIDERHAN in Vienna. He became a concert master at 17 and played with orchestras across Europe. d-Vienna, 18 MAY 2002. Boston Globe Obituary.

1916 Birth of Italian conductor Nicola RESCIGNO in NYC. Studied in Rome. Co-founder and artistic dir. of the Chicago Lyric Opera, (1954-6); Dallas Opera (1957-92). MET Opera Début 7 DEC 1978, Don Pasquale, 4 seasons (1978-82) 63 perf., 4 works.

1916 FP of Korngold's "Der Ring des Polykrates" and "Violanta" Munich.

1918 Birth of Greek mezzo-soprano Irma Kolassi in Athens. Teacher was Maggie Karajda.

1920 FP of Lehar's "Die blaue Mazur" operetta, Vienna.

1922 Birth of Brazilian soprano Constantina ARAUJO in Sâo Paulo, Brazil. d- 3 MAR 1966.

1922 FP of Alexander von Zemlinsky's opera Der Zwerg 'The Dwarf' at the Cologne Opera.

1923 Birth of Hungarian composer Gyorgy LIGETI in Dicsöszentmartin, Transylvania. The prestigious Polar Music Prize was presented Monday, 24 May 2004, to Ligeti for his innovations in classical music, he was too ill to attend the ceremony. Search for Gyorgy LIGETI

1925 Birth of German baritone and conductor Dietrich FISCHER-DIESKAU  in Zehlendorf. Debut as Posa in Don Carlos (Verdi) 1948. Teachers were Georg Walter, Hermann Weissenborn. Pupils were Rene Hass, Hans-Gunter Dotzauer, Stephan Genz. Created Gregor Mittenhoffer in Elegy for Young Lovers (Henze). Lear in Lear (Reimann). Search Dietrich FISCHER-DIESKAU d-18 MAY 2012.

1925 FP of Vittadini's "Nazareth" Pavia.

1927 Birth of composer Bernhard Lewkovitch

1928 Birth of composer Jacob R Druckman 

1929 Birth of Korean-American composer Byong-Kon KIM.

1930 Birth of composer Julian Penkivil Slade

1931 Birth of American composer Peter WESTERGAARD in Urbana, IL.

1931 Death of Polish soprano Regina Pinkert. b-Warsaw, 1869.

1931 Birth of composer Ervin Junger

1931 Birth of composer Peter Talbot Westergaard

1932 Birth of composer Henning Christiansen

1934 Birth of composer Julian Slade

1934 Birth of composer Rob du Bois

1934 FP of Rabaud's "Rolande et le mauvais garçon" Paris.

1935 Birth of Australian composer Derek STRAHAN in Penang, Malaysia.

1935 Birth of English bass Richard VAN ALLEN in Chipston. MET Opera Début 22 SEP 1987 [Count des Grieux] Manon, 3-seasons, 32-perf. & concerts, 4-roles. Debut as Second Armed Man in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1966. Teachers were Jani Strasser, Mario Condone, David Franklin. Created Lord Francis Jowler in Rising of the Moon (Maw). Tireias in Bakxai (Buller). Abbot in Inquest of Love (Harvey). Man without a Conscience in Terrible Mouth (Osborne). Sang in FP of Therese (Taverner).

1935 Birth of Italian soprano Franca FABBRI in Milan.

1936 Birth of composer Maki Ishii

1938 Birth of Swedish baritone Ekkehard WLASCHIHA in Lulea. MET Opera Début 25 FEB 1988 [Alberich] Siegfried, 9 seasons (1987-94, 96-97, 99- 00) thru 2000, 66 perf., 6 works. Debut as Don Fernando in Fidelio (Beethoven). Teacher was Helen Jung.

1938 FP of Paul Hindemith's opera Mathis der Mahler, composed in 1935 in Zurich.

1938 First air conditioned opera house opens, Dessau, Germany.

1943 Birth of American composer Dennis RILEY. d-1999.

1943 Birth of Greek soprano Elena SOULIOTIS in Athens. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1964. Teachers were Alfredo Bonta, Iascha Galperin, Bianca Lietti, Mercedes Llopart.

1947 Birth of Azerbaijani composer Franghiz ALI-ZADEH in Baku, Azerbaijan.

1948 Birth of Cypriot-born British violinist Levon CHILINGIRIAN in Nicosia.

1951 Death of American soprano Queena Mario. b-Akron, Oh 21 AUG 1896. Debut as Olympia in Contes D'Hoffmann (Offenbach) 1918. Teachers were Oscar Saenger, Marcella Sembrich. Pupils were Rose Bampton, Francis Bible, Helen Jepson, Lucy Monroe, William McGrath.

1954 Birth of Russian pianist Yuri EGOROV. d- 1988. Won Third Prize in 1974 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition.

1964 Death of English choral director and administrator John Finley Williamson, Westminster Choir Director, age 76.

1966 Death of German bass Robert von der Linde. b-27 OCT 1884. Debut 1910. Teacher was Dielke. Pupil was Rudolf Schock. Created Jim in Maschinist Hopkins (Brand).

1966 FP of Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 11. Beethoven Quartet in Leningrad.

1993 FP of Michael Torke's Proverbs for female voice and ensemble. Present Music ensemble, conducted by the composer at the Milwaukee Museum of Art. CD-Torke: Book of Proverbs; Four Proverbs

1993 FP of Karlheinz Stockhausen's opera Dienstag aus Licht 'Tuesday from Light' at the Leipzig Opera.

2002 Death of German-American composer Jean Berger in Aurora, Colorado. b-1909. Biography.