Today in classical music history August 15

Gioseffo Ferdinando BERTONI

1725 Birth of Italian composer Gioseffo Ferdinando BERTONI in Salò Island, Garda Lake. d-Desenzano, 1 DEC 1813. Opera list.

1727 Birth of composer Johann Georg Holzbogen

1736 Birth of composer Johann Christoph Kellner

1728 Death of French composer and violist Marain Marais at age 72, in Paris. b-Paris, 31 MAY 1656.

1741 Birth of composer Thomas Norris

1772 Birth of German inventor Johannes Nepomuk MAELZEL. Developed the metronome, born in Regensburg. d-On brig in Venezuelan harbor enroute to Philadelphia, 21 JUL 1838. Worked with Beethoven.

1776 Birth of Austrian composer Ignaz Ritter von SEYFRIED in Vienna. Pupil and friend of Mozart. Conductor at Theater-an-der Wien. d-Vienna, 27 AUG 1841.

1782 Death of French composer and violist Jean Baptiste Forqueray in Paris. b-Paris, 3 APR 1699.

1787 Birth of Russian composer Alexander ALYABIEV in Moscow (Tobolsk).

1822 Birth of composer Wilhelm Rust

1829 Birth of composer Eduard de Hartog

1831 FP of RICCI: L. "Chiara" Milan (1831).

1839 Birth of composer Hugh Archibald Clarke

1858 Birth of French soprano Emma CALVE' (Calvet de Roquer)in Aveyron. d-Milan, 6 JAN 1942. Was a leading 'Carmen'. Debut as Marguerite in Faust (Gounod) 1882 Teachers, Rosine Laborde, Mathilde Marchesi, Domenico Mustafa Jules Puget Pupils, Gina Cigna, Margherita Grandi, Lucien Muratore Created Suzel in L'Amico Fritz (Mascagni) Anita in Navarraise (Massenet) Fanny in Sappho (Massenet) Bianca in Aben Hamet (Dubois)

1865 FP of Liszt's St. Elizabeth, in Pest.

1872 Birth of American composer Rubin GOLDMARK. Nephew of composer Karl Goldmark. Pupil of Dvorak. d-1936.

1872 Birth of composer Harold Fraser-Simson

1875 Birth of African-English composer Samuel COLERIDGE-TAYLOR in London. d-Croydon, 1 SEP 1912.

1882 (1887?)Birth of American composer Marion BAUER in Walla Walla, WA. d-South Hadley MA, 9 AUG 1955.

1883 Birth of Russian composer Andrey PASTCHENKO.

1885 Birth of composer Andrey Filippovich Pashchenko

1888 Birth of American concert violinist Albert SPALDING in Chicago. d-NYC, 26 MAY 1959.

1890 Birth of French composer Jacques IBERT in Paris. d-Paris, 5 FEB 1962. Was director of the Academy of Rome from 1937-55. Opera: "Persée et Andromeède ou Le plus heureux de trois" (Paris, 1929); "Angélique" (Paris, 1927); "Le roi d'Yvetot" (Paris, 1930); "Gonzague" (Paris, 1930); "L'aiglon" (Monte Carlo, w/ com. Honegger, 1937); "Les Petites Cardinal" w/Honegger (1938; "Barbe-bleu" (Lausanne Radio).

1892 Birth of composer Knud Christian Jeppesen

1893 Birth of composer Alexander Vasil'yevich Gauk

1896 Birth of Russian inventor Leon THEREMIN (Termen')in St. Petersburg Russia. Invented the electronic musical instrument that bears his name. d-11/03/1993.

1897 FP of PANIZZA: "Il Fidanzato del mare" Buenos Aires (1897).

1897 Birth of composer Marion Eugene Bauer

1901 Birth of composer Byron Arnold

1901 Birth of composer Sulho Ranta

1902 Birth of Elisabeth Feuge Soprano Born 15 Aug 1902 Dessau Died 4 July 1942 Debut 1921 Teacher, Emilie Feuge-Gleise (mother) Sang in premiere of Torneo Notturno (Malipiero) Himmelsklied (Wolf-Ferrari)

1904 Birth of Pitzinger, Gertrude (c) Ger. (93) b. Mährisch-Schänberg, Aug. 15, 1904; d. Frankfurt, Sep. 15, 1997. Teachers, R Glaser, Kalzmayer, J Marx Pupil, Rohangis Yachmi

1904 A.C. Frost Company created Ravinia as an amusement park intended to lure riders to the fledgling Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad.

1906 Birth of composer Finn Videro

1907 Birth of Swiss-born American harpsicordist and teacher Sylvia KIND in Chur, Switzerland. University of Washington School of Music from 1967 to 1978. d-Port Angeles, WA 30 MAY 2002. Seattle Times Obituary.

1907 Death of Hungarian violin virtuoso, Joseph Joachim, in Berlin at age 76. b-nr. Pressburg, 28 JUN 1831.

1909 Birth of American conductor and arranger Hugo Winterhalter in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Popular orchestra leader: Canadian Sunset, Rhapsody in Blue. d-17 SEP 1973.

1917 Death of Oscar Kamionsky Baritone Born 1869 Kiev Died 15 Aug 1917 Debut 1892 Teachers, Dadeli, Camille Everardi, Joseph Paletschek

1918 Birth of composer Raymond Gallois-Montbrun

1922? Birth of American composer, pianist and conductor Lukas FOSS. He says the year of his birth is not documented, he has no birth certificate. Born in Berlin he came to NYC from Paris in 1937.

1924 Birth of Elsie Morrison Soprano Born 15 Aug 1924 Ballarat Australia Debut as Galatea in Acis and Galatea (Handel) 1948 Teacher, Clive Carey Created Menna in Menna (Hughes)

1925 Birth of Italian pianist Aldo CICCOLINI in Naples.

1925 Birth of Massard, Robert (b) Fr. in Pau. Debut as High Priest in Samson et Delilah (Saint-Saens) 8 Jun 1952 Created Harpist in Numance (Barraud)

1926 Birth of American pianist Julius KATCHEN in Long Branch, NJ. d-Paris, 29 APR 1969.

1926 Birth of composer Lyutsian Abramovich Prigozhn

1928 Death of Einar Forchhammer Tenor Born 19 June 1866 Copenhagen Died 15 Aug 1928 Debut as Lohengrin in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1895 Teachers, Durslev, S Miskov, Julius Lieban, Giovanni Sbriglia

1931 Birth of Mexican composer Mario KURI-ALDANA in Tampico.

1933 Birth of English soprano Rita HUNTER in Wallasey. d-Sydney, 29 APR 2001. MET: Début: Dec. 19, 1972 [Brünnhilde] Die Walküre, 5 seasons (1972-77) 33 perf., 5 works. Debut as Inez in Trovatore (Verdi) 1956 Teachers:- Edwin Francis, Redvers Llewellyn, Clive Carey, Eva Turner

1933 Birth of Fredericks, Richard (b) U.S. b. Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 1933; sang with the NYCO. Debut as Schaunard in Boheme (Puccini) 1960 Teachers:- Beverley Johnson, Florence Lamont Hinman, Carlos Noble Pupil :- Susanne Marsee Created Billy Yank in Gentlemen Be Seated (Moross) Jason MacFarlane in Lizzie Borden (Beeson) Steffans in Wings of Dove (Moore)

1935 Death of Lucienne Breval Soprano Born 4 Nov 1869 Mannedorf Switzerland Died 15 Aug 1935 Debut as Selika in Africaine (Meyerbeer) 1892 Teachers:- Alfred Auguste Giraudet, Louis-Henri Obin, Victor Wartot Created Griseldis in Griseldis (Massenet) Penelope in Penelope (Faure) Ariane in Ariane (Massenet) Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Bloch) Sang in premiere of Cid (Massenet) Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (Dukas) Salambo (Reyer) Monna Vanna (Fevrier)

1935 FP of Ferde Grofé's Hollywood Suite, at the Hollywood Bowl, LA, CA.

1940 Birth of Rita Shane Soprano Born 15 Aug 1940 New York Debut Olympia in Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) 1964 Teachers:- Herbert Bliss, Beverley Johnson, Henry Lewis, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Created Aurelia Havisham in Miss Havisham's Fire (Argento)

1945 ('47?)Birth of American minimalist composer and pianist Charlemagne PALESTINE aka Charles Martin, in NYC.

1946 Birth of American composer Tom HAMILTON.

1951 Death of Austrian pianist Artur Schnabel in Morschach, Switzerland. b-Lipnik, 17 APR 1882.

1955 Birth of English mezzo-soprano Anne Marie OWENS.

1955 Birth of Belgium composer Jean-Luc BERTEL in Tournai.

1956 Birth of Ford, Bruce Edwin (t) U.S. b. Lubbock TX, Aug. 15, 1956; MET: Début: Oct. 22, 1997 [Almaviva] Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 1 season (1997-98) 4 perf., 1 work. Debut as Abate di Chazeuil in Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea) 1982

1956 Death of Kathleen Howard Mezzo-Soprano Born 17 July 1873 Clifton Canada Died 15 Aug 1956 Debut as Azucena in Trovatore (Verdi) 1907 Teachers:- Jacques Bouhy, Jean de Reszke, Lilli Lehmann, Oscar Saenger Created Zita in Gianni Schicci (Puccini)

1957 FP of GILLIS: "Pep Rally" Interlochen, MI (1957).

1960 Birth of Austrian composer Karlheinz ESSL in Vienna.

1961 Death of Nadezhda Obukhova Mezzo-Soprano Born 22 Feb 1886 Moscow Died 15 Aug 1961 Debut as Pauline in Pique Dame (Tchaikovsky) 1917 Teacher Umberto Masetti

1966 Death of Jan Kiepura Tenor Born 16 May 1902 Sosnowiec Poland Died 15 Aug 1966 Debut as Mountaineer in Halka (Moniuszko) 1924 Teachers:- Waclaw Brzezinski, Tadeusz Leliva Created La Grange in Prezione Ridicole (Lattuada) Stranger in Wunder der Helaine (Korngold)

1967 Birth of American composer Davis BROWN.

1973 Birth of American composer Adam B. SILVERMAN.

1973 Birth of American composer Michael Andrew DOHERTY.

1985 Death of American composer Richard Yardumian in Bryn Athyn, PA at age 68. b-Philadelphia, PA 5 APR 1917.

1986 FP of Krystoff Penderecki's opera The Black Mask at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.

1990 Death of James Atkins Bass-Baritone Born 17 Aug 1912 Hinchley Leicester Died 15 Aug 1990 Debut 1949 Created Alcinous in Castaway (Berkeley)

1991 Death of Eugenio Fernandi Tenor Born 1922 Turin Died 15 Aug 1991 Debut in Figlia del Diavolo (Mortari) 1954 Teacher :- Aureliano Pertile

2000 FP of Kaija Saariaho's opera L'amour de loin. Dawn Upshaw, Dwayne Croft, and Dagmar Peckova, with Kent Nagano conducting the Southwest German Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.

Albanese

2014 Death of Soprano
Licia Albanese at age 105. b-22 JUL 1909.