JUNE 10

Carl Otto Ehrenfried NICOLAI
  • 1361 Death of French composer Philippe de Vitry in Meaux at age 69. b-1361.
  • 1527 Death of German composer Heinrich FINCK in Vienna. b-Bamburg, 1445.
  • 1656 Death (Burial) of English composer Thomas Tomkins at age 84,in Martin Hussingtree, nr Worcester, England.
  • 1668 FP of Draghi's "Gl'amori di Cefalo e Procri" Vienna.
  • 1763 Leopold Mozart and his son and daughter leave Salzburg on European tour to end on 29 NOV 1766.
  • 1781 Birth of composer Giovanni Battista Polledro
  • 1790 Birth of composer Louis Joseph Daussoigne-Mehul
  • 1791 Birth of American composer John Howard PAYNE, lyricist of The Maid of Milan and Home Sweet Home. Payne served as American Consul to Tunis, Africa in the last years of his life and died there in 1852.
  • 1797 FP of Paisello's "Chi la dura la vince" Milan.
  • 1806 FP of Dalayrac's "Deux mots" Paris.
  • 1810 Birth of German composer and conductor Carl Otto Ehrenfried NICOLAI in Konigsberg. d-Berlin, 11 MAY 1849. The founder of the Vienna Philharmonic first achieved fame in Italy. He was appointed musical director at Vienna's "Kärntnerthor Theater" in 1837-38 season and was named Court Kapellmeister in 1841. Operas, "Enrico" (original title, "Rosmonda d'Inghilterra" Trieste, 1839); "Il Templario" (Turin, 1840, [rev] as "Der Tempelritter" Vienna, 1845, [rev] as "Der Tempelritter" Vienna, 1845); "Gildippe ed Odoardo" (Genoa, 1840, losr); "Il proscritto" (Milan, 1841, [rev] as "Die Heimkehr des Verbannten" Vienna, 1846, [rev] as "Il proscritto); "Die lustigen Weiber von windsor" (Berlin, 1849).
  • 1829 Birth of Italian composer Gaetano BRAGA.
  • 1831 Birth of composer W A Remy
  • 1840 FP of a concert called a 'recital'. A solo performance by Franz Liszt at the Hanover Square Rooms in London.
  • 1843 Birth of composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg
  • 1845 Birth of German composer and pianist Herrmann SCHOLTZ in Breslau. d-Dresden, 13 JUL 1918.
  • 1849 Birth of Canadian band conductor and composer Joseph VEZINA in Quebec. d-1924.
  • 1852 FP of F. Ricci's "Il marito e l'amante" Vienna.
  • 1860 FP of Robert Schumann's Cello Concerto. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra posthumous commemorating the composer's 50th birthday, soloist Ludwig Ebert.
  • 1865 Birth of American author, pianist and organist Clarence G. HAMILTON. Professor of music at Wellesley College.
  • 1865 Birth of French composer Lucien-Denis-Gabriel-Alberic MAGNARD in Paris. Killed by German soldiers at his home in Baron, Oise 3 SEP 1914.
  • 1865 Birth of Danish composer Carl NIELSEN in Norre-Lyndelse. Conductor of The Royal Danish Opera from 1908 to 1914, Director of Royal Conservatory, Copenhagen, 1915. d-Copenhagen, 3 OCT 1931. Operas, "Snefrid" (Copenhagen, 1894, [rev] 1899); "Saul og david" (Copenhagen, 1902); "Mask" (Copenhagen, 1906).
  • 1873 Birth of German baritone Otto GORITZ in Berlin. d-11 APR 1929. Debut as Matteo in Fra Diavolo (Auber) 1895. Teacher was Olga Nielitz. Created Fiddler in Konigskinder (Humperdinck).
  • 1877 Birth of Italian baritone Tita RUFFO in Pisa. d-Florence, 6 JUL 1953. Ruffo had no education, and left home because of friction between his father. He was admitted to the Santa Cecilia in Rome, and made his début at the Teatro Costanzi, [Herald] Lohengrin. MET Opera Début 19 JAN 1922 [Figaro] Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 8 seasons (1921-29) 55 perf., 7 roles. Debut as Herald in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1898. Teachers were Lelio Casini, Venaslao Persichini, Scarapane. Pupils were Gian-Giacomo Guelfi, Edoard Kriff, Enzo Mascherini, William Dickie.
  • 1879 Birth of composer Benjamin Lambord
  • 1886 Birth of Japanese composer and conductor Kosaku YAMADA in Tokyo. d-Tokyo, 29 DEC 1965.
  • 1887 FP of Bruneau's "Kérim" Paris.
  • 1888 Birth of composer, violinist and teacher Hugo KAUDER in Tobitschau, Tovasov, Moravia, Czech Republic. d-Bussum, 22 JAN 1972.
  • 1889 Birth of Austrian bass-baritone Alfred JERGER in Borno. d-8 NOV 1976. Debut as Lothario in Mignon (Thomas) 1917. Teachers were Eugen Fuchs, H. Graedner, Gutheil. Pupils were Ruthilde Boesch, Michael Langdon, Leonie Rysanek, Core Canne-Meijer, Wilma Lipp. Created Mandryka in Arabella (Strauss). Man in Gluckliche Hand (Schoenberg)
  • 1890 Birth of Italian tenor Nino PICCALUGA in Casorate, Lombardi. d-3 FEB 1973. MET Opera Début 11 FEB 1969 [Enrico] Lucia di Lammermoor, 1 season (1968-69) 2 perf., 1 work. Debut as Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut 1918. Sang in FP of Sakuntala (Alfano).
  • 1890 FP of DE Koven's "Robin Hood" Chicago. Revised as "Maid Marion" Philadelphia (1901).
  • 1890 FP of Harry B. Smith´s operetta Robin Hood at grand opening of the Grand Opera House in Chicago. Oh Promise Me was sung by Jessie Bartlett Davis.
  • 1890 Birth of composer Powell Weaver
  • 1891 Birth of American popular music composer Cole PORTER in Peru, IN. d-Santa Monica, CA 15 OCT 1964.
  • 1894 Birth of composer Pavel Borkovec, Czech
  • 1896 Birth of German baritone Josef BURGWINKEL. d-10 NOV 1966.
  • 1897 Death of composer Guillaume Ignace Gibsone in London. Also pianist, of French Scottish parentage. b-8 OCT 1826.
  • 1899 Birth of Norwegian soprano Signe AMUNDSEN in Oslo, Norway. d-13 MAY 1987.
  • 1900 Birth of American choral director and conductor Fred WARING in Tyrone PA. His orchestra was known as The Pennsylvanians, he was the Waring blender financial backer that a Mr. Osius invented.
  • 1902 FP of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, at the Festival of the Allgemeiner Deutsche Musikverein, with the composer conducting in Krefeld, Germany.
  • 1902 Birth of composer Gaston Brenta
  • 1904 First concert performance by The London Symphony Orchestra. The first conductor was Hans Richter. See 2004 below.
  • 1906 Birth of composer Janos Viski
  • 1909 Birth of Belgian composer Robert OBOUSSIER in Antwerp. d-of stabbing, Zurich, 9 JUN 1957.
  • 1909 Birth of composer Erwin Dressel
  • 1910 Birth of composer Robert Still
  • 1912 Birth of naturalized American, Swedish-German composer Ingolf DAHL in Hamburg.
  • 1912 Birth of Welsh tenor Edgar EVANS in Cardiganshire. He studied singing in London and Milan. He was a member of the chorus of Sadler’s Wells Opera from 1937-1940. In 1946 he became a founder member of the new permanent company at the Royal Opera House Company at Covent Garden where he was a Principal Tenor for almost 30 years.
  • 1912 FP of Igor Starvinsky's four-hand piano version of the score for The Rite of Spring which the Ballet Russe would premiere the following year in Paris, at a private performance in Bellevue, France. Soloists were Claude Debussy and Stravinsky.
  • 1913 Birth of composer Tikhon Nikoleyevich Khrennikov
  • 1913 Birth of composer John Edmunds
  • 1920 Birth of composer Zbynek Vostrak
  • 1920 FP of D'Indy's "La Légende de Saint-Christophe" Paris, with Germaine Lubin (s) (1890-1979) Fr. [Nicéa].
  • 1927 Birth of Italian composer Franco DONATONI in Verona. d-Milan, 17 AUG 2000.
  • 1929 Birth of composer Vasile Herman
  • 1930 Birth of Australian baritone Geoffrey CHARD in Sydney. Debut as Dancaire in Carmen (Bizet) 1951. Created Choregos in Punch & Judy (Birtwistle). Odysseus in Castaway (Berkeley). Prince Florizel in Rajah's Diamonds (Hoddinot). Johann Voss in Voss (Meale). Alexei Karenin in Anna Karenina (Hamilton). Dessalines in Toussaint (Blake). Francisco Pizarro in Royal Hunt of the Sun (Hamilton). Peter in Lucky Peter's Journey (Williamson).
  • 1932 Death of Polish pianist Maria Natalia Janotha in The Hague. b-Warsaw, 8 JUN 1856.
  • 1934 Birth of composer Nicolas Roussakis
  • 1938 Birth of American composer, pianist and teacher Charles WUORINEN in NYC.
  • 1938 Birth of Italian baritone Lorenzo SACCOMANI in Milan.
  • 1939 Birth of Roumanian soprano Ileana COTRUBAS in Galati. MET Opera Début 23 MAR 1977 [Mimi] La Bohème, 8 seasons (1976-78, 80-81, 82- 85, 86-87, 95-96) 50 perf. 6 works. Debut as Siebel in Faust (Gounod) 1964. Teachers were Eugenie Elinescu, Ciprian Porumbescu, Constantin Stroescu. Pupil was Tinuke Olafimihan.
  • 1939 FP of Sir Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 7, dedicated to Americans. New York Philharmonic, with Sir Adrian Boult conducting at Carnegie Hall. Commissioned by the British Council for the British Exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair.
  • 1940 FP of Aaron Copland's Our Town orchestral suite from the film score, on CBS radio network.
  • 1945 Birth of composer Martin Wesley-Smith
  • 1946 Death of Austrian tenor Adolf Wallnofer. b-Vienna, 24 APR 1854. Debut as Di Luna in Trovatore (Verdi) 1880. Teacher was Hans Van Rokitansky.
  • 1948 Birth of American cellist Nathaniel ROSEN in Altadena CA.
  • 1949 Death of Rumanian-Austrian soprano Maria Cebotari in Vienna, age 39. b- 23 FEB 1910.
  • 1951 Death of Russian soprano Xenia Dershinskaya. b-Moscow, 25 JAN 1889. Debut in Mazeppa (Tchaikovsky) 1911. Teachers were Flora Paskovskaya, E. I. Teryan-Karganova. Pupil was Vera Firsova.
  • 1951 FP of Franz Joseph Haydn´s opera Orpheus and Eurydice at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence. Composed in 1791 for performance in London, it was not performed during his lifetime.
  • 1957 Death of Belgian composer Robert Oboussier in Antwerp. b-Zurich, 9 JUN 1900.
  • 1959 Birth of American composer Kevin JAGOE.
  • 1963 Death of Italian baritone Alfredo Gandolfi in NYC. b-Turin, 1884. MET Opera Début 28 OCT 1929 [Sergeant] Manon Lescaut, 7 seasons (1929-36) 307 perf., 38 roles, 30 works.
  • 1964 Birth of Norwegian composer Roger Arve VIGULF in Spjelkavik.
  • 1964 Death of Polish-American composer Louis Gruenberg at age 75, in Los Angeles, CA. b-Brest Litovsk, 3 AUG 1884.
  • 1965 Death of tenor Fritz Soot. b-Neunkirchen Saar, 20 AUG 1878. Debut as Tonio in Fille du Regiment (Donizetti). Teacher was Karl Scheidemantel. Created Drum-Major in Wozzeck (Berg). Italian Singer in Rosenkavalier (Strauss). Voice in Rembrandt van Rijn (Von Klenau). Babinski in Schwanda the Bagpiper (Weinberger). Sang in FP of Verurteilung des Lukullus (Dessau).
  • 1966 FP of Benjamin Britten's church opera The Burning Fiery Furnace in Orford Church, Aldeburgh.
  • 1968 Robert F. Kennedy memorial concert by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. The Adagietto movement from Mahler's Symphony No. 5, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC.
  • 1969 Death of baritone John Daggett Howell. b-1911. Pupils were Giorgio Tozzi, Emile Renan.
  • 1979 Death of German tenor Walter Geisler. b-1918.
  • 1979 Death of Hungarian baritone Alexander Sved. b-Budapest, 28 MAY 1904. Debut as Di Luna in Trovatore (Verdi) 1928. Teachers were Mario Sammarco, Riccardo Stracciari, Bela Szabados. Pupil was Bela Adolbert.
  • 1999 Death of French composer Maurice Journeau in Versailles. b-Biarritz, 17 NOV 1898.
  • 2004 The centenary of the London Symphony Orchestra's first concert on 9 JUN 1904. The anniversary festivities feature performances of Britten's Peter Grimes, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. Barbican Hall, in London.