MAY 16

Arthur Henry Mann


  • 1661 Jean-Baptiste Lully 1632-1687, takes position of Kings master of music at the French court.
  • 1792 Opening of Teatro las Fenice in Venice, with final performance by tenor Gasparo Pacchiarotti.
  • 1792 FP of Paisello's "I giuochi d'Agrigento" in Venice.
  • 1793 Birth of Italian soprano and mezzo-soprano Benedetta Rosamunda PISARONI in Piacenza. d-6 Aug 1872. Debut 1811 in Rosa Bianca (Mayr). Teachers were Lodovico Marchesi, Moschini, Pacchiarotti,Pino, Giovanni Battista Velutti. Created Romilda in Romilda e Costanza (Meyerbeer). Almanzor in Esule di Granata (Meyerbeer). Lotario in Eufemie di Messina (Carafa). Adolfo in Sonnambulo (Carafa). Lauso in Antigone e Lause (Pacini). Serse in Temistocle (Pacini). Dejanira in Apoteosi D'Ercole (Mercadante). Argiro in Amici di Saracusa (Mercadante). Zomire in Ricciardo e Zoraide (Rossini). Malcolm in Donna del Lago (Rossini). Andromache in Ermione (Rossini). Sang in the FP of Nozze di Lammermoor (Carafa). Romito di Provenza (Generali).
  • 1804 FP of Himmel's "Fanchon das Leiermädchen" Berlin.
  • 1822 Birth of Dutch composer and conductor Eduard Hille
  • 1829 FP of Bellini's "Zaira" Parma.
  • 1833 FP of Herold's completed by Halévy: "Ludovic" in Paris.
  • 1850 Birth of organist and composer Arthur Henry Mann. d- 1929
  • 1851 FP of Auber's "Zéline ou La Corbeille d'oranges" in Paris with Maria Alboni (c) (1823-1894) It.
  • 1853 Birth of French tenor Alexandre TALAZAC in Bordeaux. d-26 DEC 1892. Debut as Selim in Statue (Reyer) 22 APR 1878. Teachers were Louis-Henri Obin, Saint-Yves Bax. Created Gerald in Lakme (Delibes). Des Grieux in Manon (Massenet). Hoffmann in Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach). Mylio in Roi D'ys (Lalo). Jean in Jean de Nivelle (Delibes).
  • 1856 FP of Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka" St. Petersburg.
  • 1857 FP of Offenbach's "Vent du soir, ou L'Horrible Festin" in Paris.
  • 1857 Birth of composer Juan Morel Campos
  • 1858 Birth of composer Hanus Trnecek
  • 1858 Birth of American composer Frank LYNES. d-1913.
  • 1861 Birth of French tenor Albert ALVAREZ in Bordeaux. d-1 FEB 1933. Studied in Paris. Made his first appearance at the Paris Opéra [Faust] Faust (1892). He sang at Covent Garden, for ten years. Sang [Nicias] in the FP of Thaïs. At CG he sang in the FP of Massenet's Navarraise. At the Met he received $59,640 for forty performances, his fee of $1,500 a performance compared favorably with the $960 per performance paid the following season to the new leading tenor, Enrico Caruso. He had a repertory of sixty roles. Recorded on the popular Mapleson Cylinders. MET Opera Début 18 DEC 1899 [Roméo] Roméo et Juliette, 3 seasons (1899-1900, 1901-03) 88 perf., 10 roles.
  • 1861 Covent Garden debute of soprano Adelina Patti 6" x 4" Greeting Card Winterhalter Franz Xavier Adelina Patti 1863 (1843-1919) Sp. [Amina] La Sonnambula.
  • 1868 FP of Smetana's "Dalibor" in Prague with the composer conducting. Revised in 1870.
  • 1870 FP of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. Nicolas Rubinstein conducting, in Moscow.
  • 1874 FP of Verdi's Messa da Requiem. Church of San Marco, Venice.
  • 1875 Birth of Austrian tenor Bela KORNYEI in Krumau. d-22 APR 1925.
  • 1876 Birth of American ragtime composer Charles HUNTER. d-1906.
  • 1880 Birth of English composer Irene WIENIAWSKA in Brussels.
  • 1883 Birth of American tenor Rafaelo DIAZ in San Antonio. d-NYC 12 DEC 1943 of cerebral hemorrhage. Was the "Lone Star Tenor of the Lone Star State." MET Opera Début 5 JAN 1918 [Nicias] Thaïs, 13 seasons (1917-25, 26-30, 33-34) 187 perf., 23 roles, 18 works.
  • 1885 Birth of Danish soprano Tenna FREDERICKSEN in Copenhagen. d-16 MAR 1954. Debut 1906. Teachers were Jean De Reszke, J. L. Nyrop.
  • 1887 Birth of Romanian mezzo-soprano Florica CRISTOFOREANU in Rîmnicu Sarat. d-Rio de Janeiro, 1 MAR 1960. Debut Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Teachers were Bordrilla, Filippi, Vaneri. Created Mariola in Fra Gherardo (Pizzetti). Sang in FP of Madonna Imperia (Alfano). Vedova Scaltra (Wolf-Ferrari).
  • 1888 First public display of the flat grammaphone disk. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Invented by Emile Berliner.
  • 1889 FP of Jules Massenet's Esclarmonde at the Paris Opéra.
  • 1892 Birth of Austrian-born, English tenor Richard TAUBER (Ernst Seiffert) in Linz. d-London, 8 JAN 1948. Debut Tamino in Zauberflote (Mozart) 2 MAR 1913. Teacher was Carl Beines. Created Totenhaus in Eroberer (Brangts-Buys). Hein in Fremde (Kaun). Goethe in Frederike (Lehar). Octavio in Giuditta (Lehar). Sou Chong in Land des Lachelns (Lehar). Sang in FP of Perlen der Cleopatra (Straus O). Fruhlingstraume (Weinberger).
  • 1893 Birth of Austrian-American composer Paul Amadeus PISK. d-1990.
  • 1897 Birth of French tenor René HERENT in Cambrai. d-Paris, 22 JAN 1966. Debut as Morefontaine in Manon (Massenet) 1918. Sang in FP of Jorgen de Danemark (Challan).
  • 1897 Birth of composer Walther Geiser
  • 1902 Birth of Polish tenor Jan KIEPURA in Sosnowiec. d-Harrison, NY 15 AUG 1966. MET Opera Début 10 FEB 1938 [Rodolfo] La Bohème, 3 seasons (1937-39, 41-42) 18 perf., 5 roles. Debut as Mountaineer in Halka (Moniuszko) 1924. Teachers were Waclaw Brzezinski, Tadeusz Leliva. Created La Grange in Prezione Ridicole (Lattuada). Stranger in Wunder der Helaine (Korngold).
  • 1911 Birth of Swedish baritone Hugo HASSLO in Bohuslan. d-20 JAN 1994. Debut as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart) 1940. Teachers were Joseph Hislop, Hjaldis Ingebjart.
  • 1911 Covent Garden debut of French baritone Dinh Gilly (1877-1940) Verdi: [Amonasro] Aïda.
  • 1912 Birth of German tenor Ernest WILHELM in Fusson. d-23 APR 1975. Debut 1941. Teacher was Paul Bender, Edith Lukaschik.
  • 1912 (12th?)Birth of Austrian conductor Felix PROHASKA, in Vienna. Director of Vienna State Opera 1945-1956. Search  for Felix PROHASKA
  • 1922 Birth of Austrian conductor Otmar SUITNER. Director of Berlin State Orchestra and Berlin Opera in 1960s and 1970s.
  • 1926 Birth of composer Jan Zimmer
  • 1928 FP of Pizzetti's "Fra Gherardo" in Milan with the composer conducting.
  • 1929 Covent Garden debut of soprano Florence Austral Lebendige Vergangenheit: Florence Austral (1894-1968) Aussie. [Brünnhilde] Die Walküre.
  • 1929 Birth of composer Osmo Uolevi Lindeman
  • 1930 Birth of Austrian pianist Friedrich GULDA in Vienna. He died of a heart attack in Weissenbach am Attersee, 27 JAN 2000. London Times Obit. Search for Friedrich GULDA
  • 1931 Birth of American composer Donald James MARTINO in Plainfield, NJ.
  • 1938 Birth of American composer David CHAITKIN.
  • 1938 Founding of The American Composers Alliance.
  • 1941 Birth of American composer Maurice WEDDINGTON in Chicago.
  • 1948 FP of Quincy Porter's Viola Concerto, in NYC.
  • 1948 FP of Wallingford Rieger's Symphony No. 3, in NYC.
  • 1949 Birth of Italian bass Ferrucio FURLANETTO Ferruccio Furlanetto Sings Mozart in Pordenone, Sicily. MET Opéra Début 26 FEB 1980 [Grand Inquisitor] Don Carlo, 10 seasons (1991-92, 95-96, 99-2000) through 2000, 90 perf., 11 roles, 10 works. Debut as Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1974.
  • 1953 Birth of American composer David C. HANSON.
  • 1953 Birth of English baroque violinist Monica HUGGETT. Search  for Monica HUGGETT
  • 1954 Death of tenor Carl Clewing. b-Schwerin, 22 APR 1884. Teachers were Francisco D'Andrade, Wilhelm Flam, Ernst Grenzebach, Wilhelm Gruning Created Paganini in Paganini (Lehar).
  • 1954 Birth of American composer Ray SHATTENKIRK.
  • 1958 Birth of British tenor Christopher GILLET in London. Debut as Edwin in Gypsy Princess (Kalman) 1981. Teachers were Edgar Evans, Rudolf Pierney, Robert Tear. Created Caedmon in Caedmon (Lambert).
  • 1959 Birth of American conductor (Dallas SO-1995) Andrew LITTON in NYC. Search  for Andrew LITTON
  • 1960 Covent Garden debut of Swiss bass Fernano Corena (1916-1984). [Bartolo] Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
  • 1963 Birth of Dutch composer Andre VAN HAREN in Zevenaar.
  • 1966 FP of Ralph Shapey's Rituals in Chicago.
  • 1966 FP of Heitor Villa-Lobos' Sinfonia No. 9. Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting.
  • 1968 Death of Australian soprano Florence Austral. b-Melbourne, 26 APR 1892. Debut as Brunnhilde in Walkure (Wagner) 16 May 1922. Teachers were Gabrielle Sibella, Mme Wiedermann.
  • 1969 FP of John Cage's HPSCHD for amplified harpsichord and 51 tapes, in Urbana, IL.
  • 1969 FP of Manzoni's "Doktor Faustus" in Milan.
  • 1971 FP of Benjamin Britten's opera Owen Wingrave. BBC-TV in England and NET in the USAmerica.
  • 1972 FP of Jacob Druckman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Windows, for orchestra, by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
  • 1974 FP of Leonard Bernstein's Dybuk. NYC Ballet. The choreography by Jerome Robbins, composer conducting.
  • 1983 Death of soprano Vina Bovy. b-Ghent, 22 MAY 1900. Debut as Argentine in Deux Billets (Poise) 1918.
  • 1990 Death of Czech soprano Marie Podvalova. Marie Podvalová - Operatic Recital b-Prague, 5 SEP 1909. Debut as Marina in Boris Godounov (Mussorgsky) 7 Nov 1935. Teachers were Doubravka Brambergova, Anna Fassati.
  • 1991 FP of Joan Tower's Concerto for Orchestra. St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting.
  • 1995 Death of Icelandic soprano Maria Markan. b-Olafsvik, 25 JUN 1905. Debut as Leonora in Trovatore (Verdi) 1935.
  • 1995 Death of Austrian soprano Gertrud Grob-Prandl. Gertrude Grob Prandl b-Vienna, 11 NOV 1917. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1939. Teacher was Teresina Singer.