MAY 8

1527 Birth of composer Johann Walter

1673 Birth of composer Johann Valentin Eckelt

1703 Birth of composer Gottlob Harrer

1742 Birth of Bohemian harpist and composer Johann Baptiste KRUMPHOLTZ. d- 19 FEB 1790.

1745 Birth of Bohemian composer and violinist Carl Philipp STAMITZ in Mannheim. d-Jena, 9 NOV 1801. Perhaps the baptismal date, was son of composer Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz, b-1717, and the brother of composer Johann Anton Stamitz, b-1750.

1747 Long awaited organ performance by J.S. Bach at the Heiligeistkirche in Potsdam.

1750 Birth of composer Elias Mann

1778 Birth of composer Johann Gansbacher

1803 Birth of composer Joseph Napoleon Ney Moskova

1806 Birth of Bohemian composer Johann Friedrich KITTL aka Jan Bedrich Kittl in Orlik nad Vltavou. d-Lissa, Prussia 20 JUL 1868.

1808 (8th?)(´09? '24?)Birth of American composer William WALKER. d-1875.

1817 FP of G. Ferrari's "Lo sbaglio fortunato" London.

1829 Death of Italian composer Mauro Giuliani at age 47 in Naples. b-Bisceglie, 27 JUL 1781.

1829 (7th?)Birth of American composer and pianist Louis Moreau GOTTSCHALK in New Orleans. d-Tijuca, nr Rio de Janeiro, 18 DEC 1869. Composed two operas, "Charles X" and "Isaura de Salerno," each never performed.

1844 Birth of composer Hermann Gradener

1846 Birth of German-American opera composer and impresario Oscar HAMMERSTEIN in Stettin. Was father of broadway composer OH II. d-NYC, 1 AUG 1919. Founded the Harlem Opera House (1888); Olympia Music Hall (1885); Republic Theater(1900); Manhattan Opera House (1906); Philadelphia Opera House (1908); London Operas House (1911). Competed with the Metropolitan Opera. In 1910 he sold the Manhattan Opera House for $1.2 million, and the Philadelphia Opera House for $100,000, to the management of the Metropolitan, and agreed not to produce grand opera in NYC for 10 years. Presented the FP in USAmerica of 5 operas by Massenet, Charpentier's "Louise," and Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande."

1853 Birth of composer Charles Lee Williams

1859 Birth of French soprano Juliette SIMON-GIRARD in Paris. d-1954.

1863 Birth of Italian soprano Cesira FERRANI. d-4 MAY 1943. Debut as Micaela in Carmen 1887. Teacher was Antonietta Fricci. Created Mimi in Boheme (Puccini). Manon in Manon Lescaut (Puccini). Maria in Fior D'Alpe (Franchetti). Sang in FP of Le Maschere (Mascagni).

1880 Birth of French bass-baritone Julien LAFONT. d-7 JAN 1970. Debut as Prior in Jongleur de Notre Dame (Massenet).

1885 Birth of German baritone Edwin HEYER in Berlin. d-22 JUL 1966.

1886 Birth of composer Jef van Hoof

1893 FP of Rachmaninoff's "Aleko" Moscow.

1894 FP of Massenet's "Le Portrait de Manon" Paris, 1894.

1895 FP of Albéniz's "Enrico Clifford" Barcelona.

1901 Birth of Hungarian bass Mihály SZEKELY in Jászberény. d-6 MAR 1963. Debut [Hermit] Der Freischütz. (1923). In 1949 he appeared in San Francisco and Los Angeles as Marke, Hunding, Ramfis, and Sparafucile. He appeared at Glyndebourne (1957-61); He also performed in Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Rome, Moscow, Paris, and many Hungarian provincial theaters. MET Opera Début 17 JUN 1947 [Hunding] Die Walküre, 3 seasons (1946-48, 49-50) 34 perf., 7 works. Debut as Ferrando in Trovatore (Verdi). Teacher was Geza Laszlo.

1905 Birth of composer Inglis Gundry

1906 Birth of American composer David Van VACTOR in Plymouth, IN. d-LA, CA. 1994.

1906 FP of Février's "Le Roi aveugle" Paris.

1908 Birth of German soprano Martha MUSIAL in Berlin. d-OCT 1995. Debut 1937. Teachers were Hedwig Francillo-Kaufman, Roberto Vitiglio.

1913 Birth of Hungarian mezzo-soprano Maria Von ILOSVAY in Budapest. d-16 JUN 1987. Sang in FP of Antigonae (Orff).

1917 Birth of Hungarian mezzo-soprano Maria Von ILOSVAY in Budapest. d-16 JUN 1987.

1919 Birth of composer Sultan Ismail Hajibeyov

1924 FP of Pacific 231 by Artur Honegger in Paris with Serge Koussevitzky conducting.

1928 Birth of American composer William SYDEMAN.

1930 Birth of Irish soprano Mary Heather HARPER in Belfast. Debut as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Verdi) 1954. Teachers were Fred Husler, Helen Isepp, Frederick Jackson. Pupil was Nidia Palacios. Created Nadia in Ice Break (Tippett). Lucie in Tale of 2 Cities (Benjamin). Sang in premiere of Manana (Benjamin).

1931 Birth of composer Charles M Wilson

1932 Birth of Italian tenor Carlo COSSUTTA in Trieste, Italy. d.-Udine, Italy, 22 JAN 2000. MET Opera Début 17 FEB 1973, [Pollione] Norma, 2 season (1972-73, 78-79) 13 perf. 1 role. Debut as Cassio in Otello (Verdi) 1958. Teachers were Mario Melani, Manfredo Miselli, Arturo Wolken. Created Rodrigo in Don Rodrigo (Ginastera).

1936 Birth of Czech soprano Marta BOHACOVA in Brno. Debut as Queen of the Night in Zauberflote (Mozart). Teachers were Gina Cigna, Premysl Koci, Anna Korinska, Franz Schuch-Tovini.

1938 FP of Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks concerto with Nadia Boulanger conducting in Washington, D.C.

1939 FP of Vincent Persichetti's Piano Sonata No. 1, at Philadelphia Conservatory, composer soloist.

1944 Death of British composer and women's rights advocate Dame Ethel Smyth, at age 86, in Woking. b-Rectory, Middlesex, 23 APR 1858.

1945 Birth of American composer, harpsichordist and pianist Keith JARRETT in Allentown, PA.

1945 Birth of American composer Bruce TRINKLEY.

1945 Aaron Copland's wins Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Appalachian Spring ballet score. It is announced on V-E Day, the day the Allied Forces won the war in Europe.

1946 Birth of English bass John TRANTER in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Debut as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) 1972. Teacher was John Dethick. Created Domingo in Royal Hunt in the Sun (Hamilton).

1946 FP of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera The Medium, at Columbia University in NYC.

1947 Birth of English soprano Felicity LOTT in Cheltenham. MET Opera Debut 25 SEP 1990 [Marschalin] Der Rosenkavalier, 2 seasons (1990-91, 98- 99) thru 2000; 19 perf., 2 works. Debut as Seleuce in Tolomeo (Handel). Teachers were Olive Groves, Flora Nielsen, Erich Vietheer. Created Iphigenia in Clytaemnestra (Wishart). Sang in FP of We came to the River (Henze).

1951 Birth of Scottish soprano Marie SLORACH in Glasgow. Debut as Musetta in Boheme (Puccini) 1974. Teachers were David Kelly, Erich Vietheer. Created Lady Namiji in Actor's Revenge (MIki).

1951 Death of American tenor Charles Marshall. b-Waterville, ME. 14 SEP 1886. Debut 1912. Teachers were Vincenzo Lombardi, Luigi Vannuccini, W. L. Whitney.

1952 Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson is the number one song on the Billboard chart of pop music. Anderson conducting his orchestra on Decca records. Boston "Pops", Arthur Fiedler conducting on RCA.

1955 Death of German soprano Aline Sanden. b-Berlin, 26 NOV 1876. Debut 1899. Teachers were Frau Albrecht-Fraude, Valeska Von Facius.

1958 FP of Gyorgy Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 Metamorphoses nocturnes. Ramor Quartet, in Vienna.

1960 Death of Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén, at age 88, in Falun. b-Stockholm, 1 MAY 1872.

1965 FP of George Rochberg's Zodiac for orchestral. Cincinnati Symphony, Max Rudolf conducting.

1967 Birth of English ballerina Viviana DURANTE.

1970 FP of Gunther Schuller's children's opera The Fisherman and His Wife in Boston.

1972 Death of American soprano Harriet HENDERS Carmel, NY. b-Marengo, IA 1904. MET Opera Début 29 DEC 1939 [Sophie] Rosenkavalier (1939-40) sang in one performance. Debut 1831. Teacher was Marie Gutheil-Schroder.

1973 FP of George Rochberg's Imago Mundi. Baltimore Symphony, Sergiu Commisiona conducting.

1985 Death of German composer Karl Marx in Stuttgart. b-Munich, 12 NOV 1897.

1985 FP of Frank Zappa's Time's Beach for winds. Aspen Wind Quintet at Alice Tully Hall in NYC.

1986 Death of Yugoslavian mezzo-soprano Milada Bugarinovic. b-29 JUN 1903. Debut 1930.

1990 Death of Italian composer Luigi Nono in Venice. b-Venice, 29 JAN 1924.

1991 (9th?)Death of Austrian-American pianist Rudolph Serkin in Vermont. b-Eger, Bohemia, 28 MAR 1903. Father of pianist Peter Serkin.

1991 Death of French composer Jean Langlais in Paris. b-La Fontenell, 15 FEB 1907.

1996 Death of Spanish guitarist and composer Celedonio Romero in La Jolla, CA. b-Cienfuegos, Cuba. 2 MAR 1913. Patriarch of the famous guitar family.

1996 FP of Lowell Liebermann's opera The Picture of Dorian Gray, with tenor Jeffrey Lentz in the title role and Steuart Bedford conducting at the Monte Carlo Opera. FP in USAmerica was in Milwaukee, by the Florentine Opera in FEB 1999.

1998 FP of Kaija Anneli Saariaho's Cello Octet, at the Beauvais Cello Festival, Beavais, France.