MAY 31

Marin MARAIS 

1674 Birth of composer Friedrich Erhard Niedt

1656 Birth of French composer Marin MARAIS in Paris. d-Paris, 15 AUG 1728. Opera, "Alcione" (Paris, 1706); "Alcide" (1693); "Ariane et Bocchus" (1696); "Sémélé" (1709). Search for Marin MARAIS

1768 FP of Paisello's "Festa teatrale in musica" Naples.

1770 FP of Jommelli's "Armida abandonata" Naples. Revised by da Silva, Lisbon (1773).

1794 Young violinist Nicolo Paganini makes his debut in Genoa at the age of eleven. Search  Nicolo Paganini

1802 Birth of composer Cesare Pugni

1804 Birth of French composer, pianist and teacher Jeanne-Louise FARRENC-DUMONT in Paris, her maiden name was Dumont. d-Paris, 15 SEP 1815.

1809 Death of Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn in Vienna. b-Rohrau, Austria 31 MAR 1732. Had his head stolen. Search  for Franz Joseph Haydn

1817 FP of Rossini's opera La Gazza Ladra at La Scalla in Milan.

1817 Birth of French violinist, conductor and composer Edouard DELDEVEZ.

1822 Birth of Spanish composer and teacher Rafael HERNANDO in Madrid. d-Madrid, 10 JUL 1888. Opera, "El ensayo de una ópera" (Madrid, 1848, w/com. Oudrid); "Romilda" (not performed); Zarzuelas Performed in Madrid: "El duende" (1849); "Palo de ciego" (Madrid, 1849); "Colegialas y soldadow" (1849); "Bertoldo y Comparsa" (1850, w/ ); "Cosas de Juan" (1854); "El tambor" (1860); Collaborated with others on "Escenas de Chamberi" (1850, w/com. Barbieri, Oudrid, Gaztambide); "Segunda parte de El duende" (1851); "Don Simplicio Bobadilla" (1853, w/com. Barbieri, Oudrid, Gaztambide); "Cosas de Juan" (1854); "El tambor" (1860); "Aurora".

1839 FP of Flotow's "Le Naufrage de la Méduse" Paris.

1847 FP of Adam's "La Bouquetière" Paris.

1859 Birth of German singing teacher August IFFERT in Braunschweig. d-13 AUG 1930. Pupils were George Armin, Hans Breuer, Katherine Fleischer-Endel, Michael Gitowsky, Frieda Langendorff, Erik Schmedes, Eva von der Osten, Otto Watrin.

1861 FP of Offenbach's "M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le ..." Paris.

1866 Birth of Russian composer Vladimir REBIKOV in Siberia. d-Yalta, 4 AUG 1920.

1874 Birth of baritone Franz EGENIEFF in Niederwalluf. d-11 JUN 1949. Teachers were Alfredo Cairati, Lilli Lehmann, Victor Maurel.

1875 Birth of Italian composer Italo MONTEMEZZI in Verona. d-Vigasio, 15 MAY 1952. Opera, "Bianca" (never produced); "Giovanni Gallurese" (Turin, 1905); "Hellera" (Turin, 1909); "L'amore dei tre re" (Milan, 1913); "La nave" (Milan, 1918); "La notte di Zoraima" (Milan, 1931); "L'incantesimo" (1943, NBC broadcast; 1952 Verona).

1879 Birth of composer Mark Hambourg

1883 (1879?) Birth of New Zealand-American soprano Frances ALDA in Christchurch, New Zealand. aka Frances Jeanne Davis. d-Venice, 18 SEP 1952. PHOTO. Early success as a light operetta singer in Melbourne. At age twenty- two she went to Europe and European opera. Teacher was Marchesi; début Paris O-CO [Manon] Manon (1905). She sang in Brussels, London, Warsaw, Milan for three seasons (1906-1908), and Buenos Aires. In 1912, she left the Met and opera for further study, re- emerged in a concert at Carnegie Hall (1914). Alda married Giulio Gatti-Casazza (1910, divorced 1929), the same year she retired, although, she remained active in concert and radio. Alda was a popular gramophone singer of her day. After retirement she a volume of memoirs Men, Women and Tenors. MET Opera Début 7 DEC 1908 [Gilda] Rigoletto: 22 seasons (1908-1930) 369-perf., 26 roles, 25 works. Debut as Manon in Manon (Massenet). Teacher was Mathilde Marchesi. Pupil was Gertrude Ribla. Created Cleopatra in Cleopatra's Night (Hadley). Roxane in Cyrano (Damrosch). Madeleine Fleury in Madelaine (Herbert). Sang in FP of Canterbury Pilgrims (De Koven).

1884 FP of G. Puccini's opera Le villi 'The Willies' at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan.

1890 FP of Godard's "Dante et Béatrice" Paris.

1892 Birth of French conductor Louis Félix André FOURESTIER in Montpellier. d-Bologna, 30 SEP 1976. Prominent figure with the Opéra-Comique and Paris Opéra. MET Opera Début 11 NOV 1946, 2 seasons (1946-48) 33 perf., 5 works.

1892 Birth of Willem Ravelli, baritone singer

1896 Birth of Italian soprano Ines ALFANI-TELLINI in Florence. d-Milan, 1 JUN 1985. Debut as Nedda in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo).

1902 Birth of English composer of popular music and pianist Billy MAYERL. d- 1959.

1902 Birth of composer Ralph Walter Wood

1905 Death of German composer Franz Strauss. b-Parkstein, suburban Bayreuth, 26 FEB 1822. No not of the waltz family, the other one, his son was Richard Strauss with his second wife of the Georg Pschorr family.

1905 Death of Italian mezzo-soprano Marietta Biancolini. b-Fermo, della Provincia di Ascoli Piceno, 20 SEP 1846. Debut as Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini) 1864. Created Laura in Gioconda (Ponchielli).

1908 Birth of English mezzo-soprano Edith COATES in Lincolnshire. d-Worthing, 7 JAN 1983. Debut as Giovanna in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1924. Teachers were Dino Borgioli, Clive Carey, Dawson Freer. Created Auntie in Peter Grimes (Britten). Housewife in Gloriana (Britten). Mrs. Bardeau in Olympians (Bliss). Priestess in Midsummer Marriage (Tippett). Mrs. Johnson in Moon & Sixpence (Gardner). Maggy in Logan Rock (Gundry). Sang in FP of Manana (Benjamin).

1909 Death of French composer Marie Auguste Durand in Paris. b-Paris, 18 JUL 1830, Paris.

1912 Birth of English choral conductor and counter-tenor Alfred DELLER in Margate. d-Bologna, 16 JUL 1979. Created Oberon in Midsummer's Nights Dream (Britten). Search  for Alfred DELLER

1914 Birth of composer Akira Ifukube

1916 Birth of Mexican-American composer and guitarist Lydia MENDOZA.

1919 Birth of composer Emmanual Tettey Mensah

1921 Founding of The International Composer's Guild in NYC by Edgar Varese.

1922 Birth of American soprano Florence QUARTARARO in San Francisco. d-JUN 1994. MET Opera Début 18 JAN 1946 [Micaela] Carmen, 4 seasons (1945-49) 24 perf., 8 roles. Debut as Micaela in Carmen (Bizet) 1946. Teachers were Pietro Cimini, Elizabeth Wells.

1922 Death of English baritone Rutland Boughton. b-Penge, 15 JUN 1853. Created Doctor Daly in Sorcerer (Sullivan). Corcoran in HMS Pinafore (Sullivan). Sergeant of Police in Pirates of Penzance (Sullivan). Archibald in Patience (Sullivan). Earl of Mountararat in Iolanthe (Sullivan). Hildebrand in Princess Ida (Sullivan). Pooh-Bah in Mikado (Sullivan). Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore (Sullivan). Giuseppe Palmieri in Gondoliers (Sullivan). King Paramount in Utopia Limited (Sullivan). Ludwig in Grand Duke (Sullivan).

1923 Birth of composer Wolfgang Lesser

1924 Birth of French guitarist Ida PRESTI. d- 1967. Performed with guitarist Alexander Lagoya.

1927 Death of Italian baritone Giuseppe Campanari, in Milan. Was well known for his role in Barber of Seville. b-Venice, 17 NOV 1855. Debut as Tonio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) 1893. Pupils were Gerek Evans, Chase Baromeo.

1928 Birth of Swiss soprano Eva-Maria ROGNER in Zurich. Created Hilda Mack in Elegy for Young Lovers (Henze).

1928 Birth of pianist Jacob Lateiner in Havana Cuba. Also professor at Juiliard.

1929 - Birth of composer Aladar Zoltan, composer

1931 Birth of American mezzo-soprano Shirley VERRETT  in New Orleans, LA. MET Opera Début 21 SEP 1968 [Carmen] Carmen, 15 seasons (1968-71, 73-79, 80-82, 83-84, 85-86, 87-88, 89-90) 126 perf. 16 roles, 14 works. Debut as Lucretia in Rape of Lucretia (Britten). Teachers were Marion Szekely-Freschl, Anna Fitziu, Hall Johnson, Lotte Lehmann, John Charles Thomas, Dick Marzollo. d-5 NOV 2010 in Ann Arbor, MI. Search for Shirley VERRETT

1936 Birth of Algerian baritone Yves BISSON in Mostaganem, Algeria.

1934 Birth of composer Karl-Erik Welin

1938 Death of Spanish tenor Miguel FLETA. b-Albalata, Spain 28 DEC 1893. Debut Paolo in Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai) 14 Nov 1919. Teachers were Manuel Azo, Luisa Pierrick. Created Calaf in Turandot (Puccini). Sang in FP of Giuletta e Romeo (Zandonai)

1941 Birth of American harpsichordist Kenneth COOPER in NYC.

1948 Death of Portugese composer Jose Vianna da Motta in Lisbon, Portugal. b-São Tomé, Africa 22 APR 1868.

1949 Birth of American soprano Nancy SHADE in Rockford, IL.

1949 Birth of French bass-baritone Alfred MUFF in Lucerne. Debut as Don Fernando in Fidelio (Beethoven). Created Bass in Un Re in Ascolta (Berio).

1952 Birth of American composer and conductor Walter THOMPSON.

1953 Death of English soprano Audrey MILDMAY. b-Herstmonceux, 19 DEC 1900. Teacher were Johnstone-Douglas, Jani Strasser.

1954 Birth of American composer Pamela MARSHALL.

1955 Birth of American composer, teacher and saxophoneist Marty EHRLICH.

1955 Birth of American composer Bruce ADOLPHE.

1959 FP of Blomdahl's "Aniara" Stockholm.

1960 Birth of German composer Lance HULME.

1961 FP of Krystoff Penderecki's Threnody in Memory of the Victims of Hiroshima for strings, in Warsaw.

1962 Death of Spanish composer Eduard Toldrà in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, b-Vilanova i la Geltrú, 7 APR 1895.

1963 FP of Argento's "Christopher Sly" Minneapolis.

1994 Death of Italian soprano Herva Nelli. b-Florence, 9 JAN 1909. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1937.

1996 Death of Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw in Paris. b-Rotterdam, Holland 16 NOV 1926.

1998 Death of Polish composer Stanislaw Michal Wislocki in Warszawa, Poland. b-Rzeszów, Poland, 7 JULY 1921.

1998 FP of Melinda Wagner's Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion. Paul Lustig Dunkel, flute and the Westchester Philharmonic, Mark Mandarano conducting at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Purchase, NY. Pulitzer Prize for music [1999]. CD-Ruders: Concerto in Pieces; Wagner: Concerto