APRIL 18

Giacomo CARISSIMI

1605 Birth of Italian composer Giacomo CARISSIMI. Oratorio Jeptha was written in 1650. d-12 JAN 1674.

1682 FP of Lully's opera Perseus at Paris Opera.

1713 FP of G. F. Handel's Utrecht Te Deum.

1729 Birth of French-Italian ballet dancer Gaetano B Vestris.

1759 Birth of composer Jacques-Christian-Michel Widerker.

1764 Birth of pianist, conductor and composer Bernhard Anselm Weber. d-1821.

1773 Birth of Italian mezzo-soprano Giuseppina GRASSINI in Varese. d-3 JAN 1850. Debut in Pastorella Nobile (Guglielmi). Teachers were Girolamo Crescenti, Lodovico Marchesi, Benedetto Secchi, Domenica Zucchinetti. Pupils were Giuditta Pasta, Giulia Grisi, Giuditta Grisi. Created Orazia in Orazi e I Curiazi (Cimarosa). Giulietta in Giulietta e Romeo (Zingarelli). Zaira in Zaira (Winter). Prosperina in Ratto di Prosperina(Winter). Sang in premiere of Artaserse (Zingarelli).

1777 Birth of German composer Ludwig BERGER. d-16 FEB 1838.

1777 Birth of composer Ignac Ruzitska.

1786 Birth of Swiss composer Franz Xaver Schnyder von WARTENSEE in Luzern. d-Frankfurt, 27 AUG 1868.

1797 FP of DITTERSDORF's "Der Mädchenmark" singspiel, Oels.

1800 FP of Beethoven's Horn Sonata. Wenzel Punto and the composer at the piano in Vienna.

1806 Birth of composer Ludwig Schuberth.

1819 Birth of Austrian composer Franz Von SUPPE in Spalato, Dalmatia. d-21 MAY 1895.

1839 Birth of composer Frantz Jehin-Prume.

1845 Birth of Austrian conductor Wilhelm GERICKE. Boston Sym.

1855 Birth of composer Josef Gruber.

1863 Birth of Russian composer Felix BLUMENFELD. d-21 JAN 1931.

1863 Birth of Austrian mezzo-soprano Irene von CHAVANNE in Graz. d-Dresden, 26 DEC 1938. Debut 1885. Teachers were Desiree Artot de Padilla, Johannes Ress, Mme Souvestre-Paschalis. Created Herodias in Salome (Strauss).

1868 (19th?) Birth of German conductor and composer Max Von SCHILLINGS. d-24 JUL 1933.

1871 FP of an American opera. Francis Hopkin's The Temple of Minerva.

1873 Birth of French composer Roger DUCASSE. d-19 JUL 1954.

1881 Birth of German pianist and composer Hermann K J Zilcher. 

1882 Birth of English conductor Leopold STOKOWSKI in London. (Father, Polish; Mother, Irish. Came to US in 1905). The Philadelphia Orchestra came into world prominance under his leadership from 1912 to 1936. d-Nether Wallop, Hampshire, 13 SEP 1977.

1888 Birth of German soprano Frida LEIDER in Berlin. d-4 JUN 1975. Debut as Venus in Tannhauser (Wagner) 1915. Teachers were Otto Schwarz, Louis Bachner. Pupils were Elizabeth Steiner, Ingeborg Exner, Sylvia Fisher.

1897 Birth of soprano Shevket MAMEDOVA in Tbilisi. Debut as Violetta in Traviata (Verdi) 1921. Teacher was Shperling. Created Gyulsara in Shakh Ismail (Mahomayev). Sang in premiere of Shakh-Senem (Glier). Nergiz (Mahomayev).

1898 FP of Ravel's Menuet Antique at Salle Erad, in Paris.

1898 FP of Ernest Chausson's Symphony, in Paris.

1899 Birth of Czech conductor Zdenek CHALABALA. d-4 MAR 1962.

1903 Birth of composer Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin.

1907 Birth of Hungarian composer and conductor Miklos ROZSA  in Budapest. Won Academy Awards for scores to films Spellbound, A Double Life, and Ben Hur. d-27 JUL 1995.

1909 FP of S. Rachmaninoff's The Isle of the Dead. (Gregorian, Julian May 1)

1910 Birth of Austrailian soprano Sylvia FISHER in Melbourne. d-1996. Debut as Hermione in Cadmus et Hermione (Lully). Teachers were Gustav Sacher, Adolf Spivakovsky, Frida Leider. Created Cressida in Troilus & Cressida (Walton).

1913 Birth of composer Milos Sokola.

1913 Birth of American composer and teacher Kent W. KENNAN in Milwaukee, WI. Univ Texas, Austin, Professor of Music Emeritus and a prominent figure in the composition of American classical music, Kennan's numerous compositions have been widely performed and published. Best known is "Night Soliloquy," which in the version for flute and strings has been played by all the major orchestras in the country under conductors including Toscanini, Ormandy, Stokowski, and Ozawa, and recorded under six different labels. Retirement announcement. d-Austin, TX 1 NOV 2003.

1924 Birth of composer Buxton Daeblite Orr.

1925 Birth of composer Robert Caldwell Crawford.

1930 FP of Charles Wakefield Cadman's Violin Sonata. Vera Barstow soloist in LA, CA.

1932 Birth of Russian soprano Nadezda KNIPLOVA in Ostrava. Debut 1957. Teachers were Zdenek Otava, Kamila Ungrova, Jarmila Vavradova.

1933 Death of English bass Harry Dearth. b-London, 1876. Debut as Commendatore in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1897. Teachers were Manuel Garcia Jr, Gustave Garcia.

1934 (1932?) Birth of American tenor George SHIRLEY in Indianapolis. Debut as Eisenstein in Fledermaus (Strauss J) 1959. Teachers were Edward Boatner, Amos Ebersole, Thenny Georgi, Cornelius Reid. Created Romilayu in Lily (Kirchner).

1934 Birth of composer Jan Klusak.

1936 Death of Italian composer Ottorino Respighi in Rome at age 56. b-9 JUL 1879.

1942 Birth of English bass Richard ANGAS in Surrey. Debut as Lodovico in Otello (Verdi) 1966. Teachers were George Baker, Olive Groves, Ilse Raff, Josephine Veasey, Erik Werba. Created Cataline in Cataline Conspiracy (Hamilton). 1st Attendant in We Come to the River (Henze). Caller and Judge in Mark of Orpheus (Birtwistle). Pontius Pilate in Meister und Margarita (Holler). Somnus, Apollo and High Priest in Semele (Eccles). Sang in premiere of Montsegur (Landowski).

1944 Birth of American composer Rudy SHACKELFORD.

1944 Birth of English-Australian pianist and composer Penelope THWAITES.

1944 FP of Leonard Bernstein's ballet Fancy Free at the Met in New York. He re-worked some of the score into the musical On the Town.

1944 Death of French composer Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade.

1946 Birth of English tenor Robin LEGGATE in Cheshire. Debut as Herald in Wat Tyler (Bush) 1974. Teacher was David Keren.

1946 Birth of composer Anne Boyd.

1948 Birth of American soprano Catherine MALFITANO in NYC. Debut as Nanetta in Falstaff (Verdi) 1972. Teachers were J. Malfitano, Henry Lewis. Created Doll Bilby on Bilby's Doll (Floyd). Trina Sieppi in McTeague (Bolcom). Sang in premiere of Tranformations (Susa). Washington Square (Pasatieri).

1950 Birth of Christopher LAWRENCE, managing director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

1950 Birth of Canadian pianist Jane COOP in St. John, New Brunswick.

1954 Birth of American composer Robert GREENBERG.

1957 Birth of Chinese composer Tan DUN (Tahn DOON) in Si Mao village in central Hunan. Schirmer Bio.

1958 FP of Easley Blackwood's Symphony No. 1, in Boston

1958 FP of Quincy Porter's New England Episodes in Washington, D.C.

1963 Death of German tenor Fritz Windgassen. b-Hamburg, 9 FEB 1882. Debut as Manrico in Trovatore (Verdi) 1909. Pupils were Gottlob Frick, Wolfgang Windgassen (son).

1965 Contralto Marian Anderson ended her 30-year singing career with a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

1975 Death of English soprano Amy Shuard. b-London, 19 JUL 1924. Debut as Aida in Aida (Verdi) 1949. Teachers were Rosetta Pampanini, Gustav Sucher, Eva Turner, Ivor Warren,Ernst Urbach.

1986 FP of John Harbison's Music for 18 Winds. MIT Chamber Players, with the composer conducting in Cambridge, MA.

1992 Death of baritone Jerzy Czaplicki. b-1901. Pupil was Leonhard Mroz.

1995 Death of Italian tenor Florindo Andreolli. b-Adria, 24 SEP 1925. Debut as Pinellino in Gianni Schicci (Puccini) 1951. Sang in premiere of Circo Max (Negri)