JUNE 2

 Sir Edward William ELGAR

1577 Birth of composer Giovanni Righi

1608 FP of Monteverdi's "L'Idropica" Lost, Montua.

1614 Birth of composer Benjamin Rogers

1713 FP of Handel's "Silla" London.

1715 Antonio Vivaldi is given praise and a raise for works he composed for the Pieta chapel.

1715 Birth of composer Herman-Fran‡ois Delange

1751 Birth of composer Antoni Weinert

1777 Birth of composer Christian Traugott Tag

1785 Death of German composer Gottfried August Homilius in Dresden, Germany. b-Rosenthal, Germany 2 FEB 1714.

1802 FP of Baker's "The Caffres, or Buried Alove" Covent Garden, London.

1803 (Jun 1st?) Birth of composer Michail I Glinka

1806 Birth of composer Isaac Strauss

1807 Birth of composer Robert Fuhrer

1819 Birth of Jules-Bernard BELVAL in La Fere Aisne. d-13 SEP 1876. Debut 1846. Created Don Pedro in Africaine (Meyerbeer). Claudius in Hamlet (Thomas). Solomon in Reine di Saba (Gounod). Gargantua in Pantaguel (Labarre). Count of Poitoa in Magicienne (Halevy). Turpin in Rolade a Roncevaux (Mermet).

1828 Birth of American composer James Cutler Dunn PARKER. d-1916.

1830 Birth of composer Olivier Metra

1831 Birth of composer Jan G Palm, Cura‡ao, bandmaster and choir master

1834 Birth of Bohemian soprano Teresa STOLZ in Kosteletz.

1835 (Jun 14?) Birth of music educator, pianist and conductor Nicolas RUBINSTEIN. at the Russian Musical Society, (1860) and Moscow Conservatory.

1846 Debut of pianist Camille Saint-Seans in Paris. Becomes major French composer.

1855 FP of Auber's "Jenny Bell" Paris.

1857 Birth of English composer and conductor Sir Edward William ELGAR in Broadheath. Enigma Variations; oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. d-Worcester, England 23 FEB 1934. Opera, "The Spanish Lady" unfinished (1878), copious fragments survive and were given in a performing version by Percy Young at Cambridge (1994).

1858 Birth of American organist and composer Harry Rowe SHELLEY. d-1947.

1863 Birth of Austrian composer and conductor Felix WEINGARTNER aka Paul Felix Elder von Münzberg, in Zara. d-Winterthur, 7 MAY 1942. 1st wife; Marie Juillerat, 2nd wife, Baroness Feodora von Dreifus, 3rd wife, Lucille Marcel (m/s) (1885-1921) U.S. Wrote 11 operas: "Sakuntala" (1884), "Malawika" (Munich, 1886), "Genesuis" (Berlin, 1892), "Orestes" (Leipzig, 1902), "Kain und Abel" (Darmstadt, 1914), "Dame Kobold" (Darmstadt, 1916), "Die Dorfschule" (Vienna, 1920), "Meister Andrea" (Vienna, 1920), "Der Apostat" Not perf. "Kain und Abel" (Darmstadt, 1914); "Dame Kobold" (Darmstadt, 1916); "Die Dorfschule" (Vienna, 1920); "Meister Andrea" (Vienna, 1920); "Der Apostat" (np).

1864 Birth of German composer August von OTHEGRAVEN in Cologne. d-Wermelskirchen, 11 MAR 1946.

1876 Birth of composer Birth of composer Hakon Borresen

1883 Death of German mezzo-soprano Hedwig Reicher-Kindermann. b-Munish, 15 JUN 1853. Debut 1870. Teacher was August Kindermann (father).

1883 Birth of German bass Ludwig ERMOLD in Offenbach. d-15 DEC 1949. Debut as Baculus in Wildschutz (Lortzing) 1905. Created Morbio in Schweigsame Frau (Strauss).

1884 Birth of Finnish soprano Hanna GRANFELT in Sakkola. d-Helsinki 3 NOV 1952. Debut 1909. Teacher was Edmond Duvernoy.

1886 Birth of German bass Karl BRAUN in Meisenheim. d-Brussels, 6 JAN 1960 (? 24 APR 1960). At 18 Braun became an apprentice at the Berlin Imperial Opera. Début: [Hermit] Freischutz (Weber) 1904 His career began in 1906; five years later he moved to Vienna for a season, and then spent two years with the Berlin City Opera. In 1906 he sang at Bayreuth. When WW I came, he was banished from the Met but returned in 1929. He sang at Covent Garden. After 1933 he was a stage director, and finally as a concert agent. MET Opera Début 8 FEB 1913 [Marke] Tristan und Isolde, 5 seasons (1912-17) 163 perf., 15 roles, 13 works. Debut 1906. Teachers were Hermann Gausche, Eugen Robert Weiss.

1887 Birth of American choral conductor and composer Hall Francis JOHNSON in Athens, GA. d-NYC, 30 APR 1970.

1888 Birth of Russian soprano Ellena KATULSKAYA in Odessa. d-19 NOV 1966. Debut as Lakme in Lakme (Delibes) 1909. Teachers were Natalia Iretskaya, Ippolit Pryanishnikov. Pupils were Alexei Maslennikov, Tamara Milashkina.

1891 FP of Fibich's "Smir Tantaluv" Prague.

1891 Birth of composer Ernst Kunz

1896 FP of Camille Saint-Seans Piano Concerto No 5 at a concert commemorating his debut 50 years earlier, at the Salle Pleyel, in Paris.

1897 Birth of Australian soprano Stella POWER in Melbourne. 'Little Melba' A protegé of Melba, she never sang in opera and made just a few recordings.

1900 Birth of Welsh composer David Wynne

1908 Birth of American radio announcer (NBC) and classical concert host, Ben GRAUER. d-31 MAY 1977. Search  for Ben GRAUER

1908 FP of Mascagni's "Isabeau" Buenos Aires withCarlo Galeffi (b) (1882- 1961) It.

1909 Birth of German mezzo-soprano Martha ROHS in Saarbruecken. d-Vienna, 27 JUL 1963.

1909 Birth of British composer and teacher Robin ORR in Brechin, Scotland.

1914 (GC, JC=20 MAY) FP of Miaskovsky´s Symphony No. 1, in Pavlovsk.

1915 Birth of American composer and teacher Robert PALMER.

1915 Birth of German baritone Josef METTERNICH nr. Cologne. MET Opera Début 21 NOV 1953 [Carlo] La Forza del Destino, 3 seasons (1953-56) 23 perf., 8 works. Debut in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1941. Teacher was Paul Neuhaus. Pupils were Jan Blinkhof, Eberhard Katz, Willem Laakman, Sophie Larson, Lou Ann Wyckoff, Klaus Wallprecht, Mattheis Holle. Created Johannes Kepler in Harmonie der Welt (Hindemith). Spirit of Earth in Don Juan de Manera (Tomasi).

1927 Birth of Andre Vandernoot, Flemish conductor

1929 Birth of Canadian tenor Alan CROFOOT in East York, Ontario. d-5 MAR 1979, suicide.

1929 Birth of Belgian composer and conductor Frédéric DEVREESE in Antwerpe, Belgium.

1929 Birth of Canadian-Argentine pianist, conductor and composer Alcides LANZA in Rosario.

1930 Death of Italian baritone Angelo SCANDIANI. b-Venice, 1872. Debut 1900. Sang in FP of Resurrezione (Alfano).

1935 Birth of American composer Samuel JONES in Mississippi. Publisher's Jones biography.

1937 Death of French teacher, organist and composer Louis Vierne at Notre Dame Cathedral while playing organ, in Paris. b-Poitiers, France 8 OCT 1870.

1937 FP of first and second acts of Alban Berg's opera Lulu at the Stadtstheater in Zürich. First complete performance of the 3-act opera 24 FEB 1979. Berg's unfinished third act was arranged by Friedrich Cerha. DVD-Berg - Lulu / Davis, Schafer, Bailey, Kuebler, Harries, Schone, Bardon, Glyndebourne.

1938 FP of Giannini's "The Scarlet Letter" Hamburg with Dusolina Giannini (s) (1902-1986) U.S. [Hester]; sister of the composer.

1938 Amy Beach begins work on her Piano Trio based on her earlier works at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. Finished 18 JUN 1938, published as Op. 150.

1938 Marriage of soprano Lily Pons to conductor Andre Kostelanetz. Later divorced.

1939 Death of Spanish composer, violinist and conductor Enrique Arbos in San Sebastien. b-Madrid, 24 DEC 1863.

1940 Birth of Spanish tenor Eduardo GIMENEZ in Barcelona. Debut as Nemorino in Elisir d'Amore (Donizetti) 1967. Teachers were Vladimero Badiali, Carmen Bracons, Juan Sabater.

1942 (6th?)Birth of English countertenor Paul ESSWOOD.

1944 Birth of American popular music composer Marvin HAMLISCH.

1946 Birth of Danish soprano Inge NIELSEN Nielsen in Holboeke. Debut 1973. Teacher was Jeno Sipos. Created Minette in English Cat (Henze). CD-Strauss - Salome / Inge Nielsen · Hale · Goldberg · Silja · Schønwandt

1947 Birth of English conductor Mark ELDER.

1949 Birth of American tenor Neil SHICOFF in Brooklyn, NY. MET Opera Début 15 OCT 1976 [Rinuccio] Gianni Schicchi, thru 2000, 14 seasons (76-80, 82-90, 96-97, 99-2000) 166 perf., 16 works. Debut as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicci (Puccini) 15 OCT 1976. Teachers were Rubini Reichlin, Jennie Tourel, Franco Corelli.

1953 FP Sir William Walton's Coronation Te Deum, Composed for the coronation of 27-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, in London. CD-Walton: Belshazzar's Feast; Coronation Te Deum; Gloria

1953 FP of Sir Arthur Bliss' Processional also at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, in London.

1953 FP of Alberto Ginastera's Variaciones Concertantes in Buenos Aires. CD-Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes Op23; Glosses Op48

1954 FP of Leroy Anderson's Bugler's Holiday with Anderson conducting at a Decca recording session in NYC. Featuring cornet soloists Carl Poole, Melven Solomon and Robert Cusamann. CD-Best of Leroy Anderson

1955 Birth of British composer Stephen WATSON in Chester, England.

1955 Birth of French pianist Michel DALBERTO.

1955 Death of Belgian tenor Marcel Wittrisch. b-Antwerp, 11 OCT 1901. Debut as Konrad in Hans Heiling (Marschner) 1925. Created Cornelis Sunthof in Rembrandt van Rijn (Klenau)

1956 Birth of American composer Jeffrey QUICK.

1956 Birth of Chinese composer Pei LU.

1968 Death of Canadian pianist Andre Mathieu in Montreal, Quebec. b-Montreal, 18 FEB 1929. Photo.

1983 FP of H. W. Henze's opera The English Cat at the Schlosstheater in Schwetzingen, Germany.

1984 Death of Greek composer Georgios Kasassogloua in Athens. b-Athens, 1 DEC 1908.

1987 Death of Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia at age 94. NYTimes obituary.

2004 Death of Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov in central Italy at the age of 74. Billboard Obit. b-13 SEP 1929.