Today in classical music history August 22

Claude DEBUSSY

1530 Birth of composer Bartolomeo Spontone

1599 Death of Italian madrigal composer Luca Marenzio in Rome. b-Cocaglio, c.1554.

1615 Birth (bap.) of English organist and composer Christopher GIBBONS in London. Son of Orlando. Chapel Royal, Westminster Abbey and Charles II. d-London, 20 OCT 1676.

1681 Birth of composer Pierre Danican Philidor

1741 Handel starts work on his Messiah and finishes in 24 days (14 SEP).

1753 Birth of composer Christian Friedrich Ruppe

1766 Birth of composerJoseph-Denis Doche

1771 Birth of composerJan Joseph Rosler

1804 Death of  German yteno Valentin Adamberger. Born 6 July 1743. Munic Teacher, Giovanni Valesi Created Belmonte in Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Mozart) Vogelsang in Schauspieldirektor (Mozart) Scipio in Clemenza di Scipione (J C Bach)

1822 FP of CARAFA: "Le recluse" Paris (1822).

1827 Birth of waltz composer Josef STRAUSS in Vienna. Son of Johann and elder brother of Viennese family of composers of light music. d-Vienna, 21 JUL 1870.

1827 Birth of composer Edouard Silas, composer

1830 Birth of Italian soprano Angiolina Bosio in Turin.  Died 13 Apr 1859. Debut as Lucrezia in I Due Foscari (Verdi) 1846 Teacher, Ettore Cattaneo

1831 Birth of soprano Louise Dustmann in Aachen.  Died 2 Mar 1899. Debut 1848 Teacher, Heinrich Proch Pupils, Lola Beeth, Ellen Brandt-Forster, Thila Plaichinger

1831 Birth of English tenor and organist W. H. CUMMINGS in Sidbury. Set Hark! The Herald Angels Sing to a Mendelssohn cantata and became popular Christmas Hymn. d-London, 6 JUN 1915.

1847 Birth of Scottish composer Alexander Campbell MacKENZIE in Edinburgh. d-London, 28 APR 1935.

1853 Birth of Johannes Elmblad Bass Born 22 Aug 1853 Stockholm Died 1911 Teachers:- Manuel Garcia Jnr, Julius Stockhausen

1853 Birth of American choral director Arthur D. WOODRUFF.

1862 Birth of French composer Achille-Claude DEBUSSY at St.Germain-en-Laye. d-Paris, 25 MAR 1918.

1868 Birth of American violinist Maud POWELL in Peru, Illinois. d-Uniontown, PA 8 JAN 1920.

1873 Birth of Italian composer Antonio SAVASTA in Catania. d-Napoli, 2 DEC 1959.

1874 Birth of English composer and organist Edward Cuthbert BAIRSTOW in Huddersfield. d-York, 1 MAY 1946.

1878 Birth of Canadian tenor Edward Johnson, in Guelph, Ontario. d. Toronto, Apr. 20, 1959: MET: Début: Nov. 16, 1922, [Avito] Amore de tre Re, 12 seasons (1922-35) 163 perf. 23 works. Debut as Andrea Chenier in Andrea Chenier (Gounod) 1912 Teachers, Vincenzo Lombardi, Louise von Feilitsch Created Aethelwold in King's Henchman (Deems Taylor) Sir Gower Lackland in Merry Mount (Hanson) Peter Ibbetson in Peter Ibbetson (Deems Taylor).  Edward JOHNSON  General Manager of the MET, NYC. d-Guelph, 20 APR 1959.

1879 Birth of French cellist Gerard HEKKING in Nancy. Cousin of cellist Andre Hekking. d-Paris, 5 JUN 1942.

1895 Birth of composer Paul White, Bangor Maine

1896 Birth of Italian soprano Vera Amerighi-Rutili, in Pisa , Aug. 22, 1896. d. May 13, 1952. Studied at the Florence Conservatory. Début: Aida. CG, (July 1919). 1921, Lisbon, where, at the San Carlo she sang La Gioconda and toured as Norma in several Adriatic cities, Ancona and Trieste, and ended at Palermo. 1922-24 sang Norma at Teatro Lirico in Milan, and appeared in La Gioconda in several Northern Italian cities, Mantua, Pisa and a tour of the Veneto. At Turin she appeared at the Teatro Chiarella, La Gioconda; Bologna's Comunale, [Brunnhilde] in Siegfried and at Pisa she sang Verdi's Il Trovatore, for the first time. 1947, sang the Gotterdammerung Brünhilde at Trieste, and with these performances her opera career came to an end. Debut as Aida in Aida (Verdi) July 1919 Pupil, Umberto Borso

1909 Birth of American vocal music composer and pianist Sergius KAGEN. Taught at Juilliard in NYC. d-1964.

1913 Birth of composer Robert Schollum

1920 Birth of Bulgarian bass Raphael Ariè, in Sofia, Aug. 22, 1920; d. Switzerland, Mar. 17, 1988:

1920 Debut of Salzburg Festivals.

1922 Birth of Israeli violinist Ivry GITLIS in Haifa.

1922 Death of Italian mezzo-soprano Sofia Scalchi. Born 29 Nov 1850 in Turin. Died 22 Aug 1922 Debut as Ulrica in Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) 1866 Teacher, Virginia Boccabadati Pupil, Rita Fornia

1924 Birth of composer Andrzej Markowski

1927 Birth of composer Aleksandar Obradovic

1928 Birth of German composer Karlheinz STOCKHAUSEN in Modrath, nr. Cologne.

1933 Birth of Polish composer Zbigniew BUJARSKI in Muszyna.

1933 Birth of American composer James CIERNIA in St. Paul, MN.

1933 Birth of American bass-baritone Robert Hale. MET: Début: Jan. 17, 1990 [Dutchman] Der Fliegende Holländer, 4 seasons (19 89-90, 92-94, 95-96) 20 perf., 6 works. Debut 1966 Teachers, Ludwig Bergmann, Boris Goldovsky, Gladys Miller, Chloe Owens Orcenith Smith Created Ximenes de Cisneros in Juana la Loca (Menotti)

1934 Birth of composer John M Chowning

1937 Birth of Italian soprano Giovanna Santelli.

1944 Birth of German tenor Peter HOFMANN in Marienbad. Hofmann was also a rock star, matinee idol, television performer, decathlon champion, paratrooper, horseback rider, motorcycle racer. MET: Début: Jan. 24, 1980 [Lohengrin] Lohengrin, 7 seasons (1979- 80, 81-82, 83-88) 29 perf., 4 works. d-29 NOV 2010.

1947 Birth of soprano Phyllis Cannan in Paisle.y Debut in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1974 Teacher, Josephine Veasey Created Inanna in Second Mrs Kong (Birtwistle)

1951 Death of tenor Georg Maikl. Born 4 Apr 1872 in Zell an der Ziller. Debut as Tamino in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1899 Teachers, Anton Hromada, Bernhard Pollini

1967 Birth of American composer Louis KOBRA in Citrus Heights, CA.

1967 Death of Russian soprano Paola Novikova. Born 1896 Moscow. Pupils, Helen Donath, Nicolai Gedda, Wilma Lipp, George London Kerstin Meyer, Irmgard Seefried, Tatiana Angelini-Johin Alan Lindquist

1968 FP of Hamilton Birtwistle's opera Punch and Judy at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

1980 FP of Michael Tippett's Triple Concerto, for violin, viola, cello and orchestra. The London Symphony, Sir Colin Davis conducting, in London.

1982 FP of Peter Maxwell Davies' Image, Reflection, Shadow at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.

2000 Death of Italian soprano Rina Gigli. Born 30 Jan 1916 in Naples. Debut as Suzel in L'Amico Fritz (Mascagni) 1936 Teacher, Beniamino Gigli (father) Sang in premiere of Jura (Gabriel)

2002 Death of German baritone Ernst-Theo Richter. b. 1949; d. Dresden

2002 FP of Loris Cheknavariyan's opera based on the Persian epic Rostam and Sohrab at Milad Hall in Teheran. It commemorated the 1000th anniversary of the birth of poet Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi, on whose epic the opera was based.