JUNE 16

1633 - Birth of composer Nathaniel Schnittelbach, composer

1637 - Birth of composer Giovanni Paulo Colonna, composer

1708 Handel completes Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in Italy. Composed for the wedding of the Duke of Alvito to Donna Beatrice Sanseverino on 19 JUN 1708.

CD-Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

1710 Handel starts work at the Court of Hanover. Appointed Kapellemeister to Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover the future King George I.

1752 Birth of composer Meingosus Gaelle

1755 Birth of German mezzo-soprano Louise DUGAZON in Berlin. d-22 SEP 1821. Debut as Pauline in Sylvian (Gretry) 1774. Teacher was Maria Favart. Pupil was Jean-Blaise Martin. Created Zemaide in Calife de Bagdad (Boieldieu). Nina in Nina (Dalayrac).

1791 FP of Paisello's "La locanda" London.

1804 Death of German composer Johann Adam Hiller in Leipzig. Developed the lyric art form Singspiel. b-Wendisch-Ossig, 25 DEC 1728.

1813 Birth of German musicologist and Mozart biographer Otto JAHN in Kiel.

1823 Publication date of the Diabelli Variations written by 51 composers on themes set by publisher Diabelli. Beethoven's op 120 and others by Czerny, Hummel, Schubert, Moscheles and others including 11 year old Franz Liszt.

1843 (18? 14?) Birth of composer and cellist David POPPER. PD Music

1843 Birth of composer Jan Malat

1849 Birth of British singing teacher William SHAKESPEARE in Croydon. d-London, 1 NOV 1931. Teachers were Francesco Lamperti, Mo;ique, Reinecke, Sterndale-Bennett. Pupils were Frank Baird, David Bispham, Dudley Buck Jr., John Coates, David Thomas, Ffrangcon-Davies, Eva Gauthier, Dennis O'Sullivan, Louis Arthur Russell, Margaret Sheridan, Perceval Allen, Perley-Dunn Aldrich, Lionel Ross-Oliver.

1853 Birth of Swedish organist and composer Emil SjöGREN in Stockholm. d-Stockholm, 1 MAR 1918.

1858 Birth of composer Eugene Ysaye

1863 Birth of composer Paul Antonin Vidal

1865 Birth of German soprano Martha Leffler BURCHHARD in Berlin. d. Wiesbaden, 14 MAY 1954. Début Strasbourg (1888). She appeared in Breslau, Cologne, Bremen, Weimar, Wiesbaden, Covent Garden and regularly at Bayreuth from 1906 through 1909 as Kundry, [Sieglinde] Die Walküre, and [Ortrud] Lohengrin. MET Opera Début 4 MAR 1908 [Brünnhilde] Die Walküre, 1 season (1907-08) 6 perf. 3 works. Debut 1888. Teachers were Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Anna Von Meichsner.

1873 Birth of Ukranian soprano Antonia NESHDANOVA aka Antonina NEZHDANOVA in Ktrivaya Balka, Ukraine. d-26 JUN 1950. Debut as Antonida in Ivan Susannin (Glinka). Teachers were Umberto Mazetti, Sophia Rubinstein.

1883 Birth of German tenor Fritz KRAUSS in Cologne. d-28 FEB 1976. Debut 1910. Pupil was Marcel Cordes. Created Asmus Modiger in Herz (Pfitzner). Sang in FP of Himmelskleid (Wolf-Ferrari).

1889 Birth of American soprano Helen Traubel in St Louis. d-28 JUL 1972. Debut as Mary in FP of Man without a Country (Damrosch) 12 May 1937. Teacher was Louise Vetta Kerst.

1890 A gala program of music and ballet, of music by composer Edward Straus, opened the first Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1891 Antonin Dvorak receives his Mus.D degree from Cambridge University.

1894 Birth of Bulgarian tenor Armand TOKATYAN aka Tocatlian, in Plodiv. d-Pasadena, 12 JUN 1960. MET Opera Debut, 19 NOV 1922. First Stage performance there 19 DEC 1922: [Turiddu] Cavalleria Rusticana, 20 seasons (1922--33, 35-37, 38-42, 43-46) 448 perf., 38 works.

1899 Birth of American opera diva Helen TRAUBEL in St. Louis. The Met’s premier Wagnerian soprano. d-28 JUL 1972.

1901 Birth of Swiss conductor and composer Conrad BECK in Lohn. d-Basel, 31 OCT 1939. Photo.

1903 Birth of German bass Gerhard PECHNER in Berlin. d. NYC, 22 OCT 1969. MET Opera Début 27 NOV 1941 [Notary] Der Rosenkavalier, 26 seasons (1941-67) 661 perf. 34 roles, 30 works.

1903 Birth of composer Huldreich Georg Fruh

1907 Birth of Russian soprano Elena KRUGLIKOVA in Poldosk. d-Moscow, 1982.

1909 Birth of Austrian violinist and conductor Willi BOSKOVSKY. d- 1990.

1910 Death of tenor Otto Briesemeister. b-Arngwalde, 18 MAY 1866. Debut as Manrico in Trovatore (Verdi) 1893. Teacher was Wiedemann.

1912 Birth of American composer Don GILLIS in Cameron, Missouri. d-Columbia, South Carolina 10 JAN 1978.

1915 Birth of tenor Karl LIEBL in Schiltberg, nr. Wiesbaden. MET Opera Début 11 FEB 1959. [Lohengrin] Lohengrin, 9 seasons (1958-67) 57 perf., 10 works. Debut 1950. Teachers were Paul Bender, Albert Meyer, Franz Hallasch.

1916 FP of Parker's "Cupid and Psyche" New Haven.

1916 Birth of composer Francis Lopez

1923 Birth of composer Ake Hermanson

1923 Birth of American soprano Gladys KUCHTA in Chikopee, MA. d-Hamburg, 7 OCT 1998. Sang with the San Francisco Opera. MET Opera Début 4 MAR 1961 [Chrysothemis] Elektra, 6 seasons (1960-65, 67- 68) 33 perf., 13 roles, 11 works. Debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1951. Teacher was Zinzida Lisichkina.

1923 Birth of Polish conductor and composer Henryk CZYZ in Grudziadz. d-Warsaw, 16 JAN 2002.

1923 Birth of Swedish pianist and organist Ake Hermanson in Mollosund. d-8 AUG 1996.

1927 Birth of American electronic music composer Bebe BARRON.

1927 Birth of Bulgarian composer Simeon PIRONKOFF in Lom, Bulgaria.

1928 Birth of Rumanian-American conductor Sergiu COMISSIONA in Buch.

1928 Birth of tenor William McGRATH in Medina. Teachers were Queena Mario. Sang in FP of Tower (Levy). Sweet Bye and Bye (Beesin).

1929 Birth of Norwegian soprano Edith THALLAUG in Oslo. Debut as Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart) 1959. Teachers were Ellabelle Davis, Giurggja Leppee, Joel Berglund.

1929 Birth of American experimental music composer James K. RANDALL in Cleveland, OH. Princeton Univ faculty.

1929 FP of D. Shostakovich's opera The Nose at the Malïly Opera Theater in Leningrad.

1930 Birth of baritone John Philip Modenos in Limassol, Cyprus. Debut as Morales in Carmen (Bizet) 1956. Teachers were Estelle Liebling, Tanos Mellos, Otto Hertz. Created Aethon in Nausicaa (Glanville-Hicks).

1931 Birth of American composer Lucia DLUGOSZEWSKI in Detroit. d-NYC, 11 APR 2000.

1931 Birth of composer Ivo Petric

1934 Birth of composer Lucia Dlugoszewski

1935 Birth of Italian tenor Tullio PANE in Naples. Debut 1960. Sang in the FP of Gargantua (Corghi).

1937 FP of American composer and pianist Mark Blitzstein's opera-review The Cradle Will Rock. He was pianist in this performance in NYC.

1940 Death of Czech composer Vitezslava Kapralova in Montpellier, France. b-Brno, 24 JAN 1915.

1943 Death of Swedish mezzo-soprano Sigrid Onegin in Magliaso, Switzerland at age 54. Photo. b-Stockholm, 1 JUN 1889. Debut as Carmen in Carmen (Bizet) 1912. Teachers were Louis Bachner, Di Ranieri, Jakobi, Lilli Lehmann, Eugen B Onegin, Luise Resz, Margarethe Siems, Eugen Robert Weiss.

1944 Death of German soprano Maria Philippi. b-Mullheim, 26 JUL 1875. Debut 1901. Teachers were Julius Stockhausen, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Emil Hegar. Pupils were Lore Fischer, Walburga Wegner.

1950 Birth of English administrator Robert St John Wright, chairman of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

1950 FP of V. Persichetti's Divertimento for Band. Composer conducting the Goldman Band in NYC.

1952 Birth of English mezzo-soprano Mary KING in Tunbridge Wells. Debut as Baba the Turk in Rake's Progress (Stravinsky) 1978. Created Morgan le Fey in Lancelot (Hamilton). Muse in Undivine Comedy (Finissy). Meg in Lambton Worm (Johnson).

1952 Birth of American tenor Jerry HADLEY in Princeton, IL. MET Opera Début 3 MAR 1987 [Des Grieux] Manon, thru 2000, 13 seasons (1986- 87, 88-2000) 117 perf., 13 works. Debut as Lionel in Martha (Flotow) 1976. Teachers were Thomas Lo Monaco, John Davis. Created Jay Gatesby in Great Gatsby (Harbison).

1953 Birth of English pianist David Owen NORRIS.

1958 Death of Mexican composer José Pablo Garcia Moncayo in México City. b-Guadalajara, 29 JUN 1912.

1961 FP of A. Schoenberg's Jacob's Ladder posthumously at 35th Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in Vienna.

CD-Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No1; Die Jacobsleiter

1962 Death of bass Ge Smith. Created Jean Gaillau in Francois Villon (Dresden).

1964 FP of Krenek's "Der goldene Bock" chamber opera, Hamburg, composer conducting.

1969 Death of baritone Umberto Urbano. b-Livourne, 16 OCT 1885. Debut 1907.

1970 Death of Estonian composer Heino Eller, at age 83, in Tallinn. b-Tartu, Estonia 7 MAR 1887.

1973 FP of Benjamin Britten's Death In Venice at Aldeburgh. Based on Thomas Mann's novella it was Britten's last opera, with Peter Pears (t) (1910-1986) Eng. [Aschenbach]; and John Shirly-Quick (b) creating all 7 baritone roles.

1988 Death of German mezzo-soprano Annelies Burgmeister in Berlin. b-Mecklenburg, Ludwigslust, 1930.

1986 Death of French composer, organist and teacher Maurice Duruflé in Paris. b-Louviers, 11 JAN 1902.

1987 Death of Hungarian soprano Maria Von Ilosvay. b-Budapest, 8 MAY 1913. Sang in FP of Antigonae (Orff).

1990 Death of English soprano and vocal coach Dame Eva Turner. b-Oldham, 10 MAR 1892. Debut as Tannhauser in Tannhauser (Wagner) 1917. Teachers were Edgardo Levy, Gigia Levy, Albert Richards-Broad. Dan Rootham, Mary Wilson. Pupils were Josephine Barstow, Eric Garrett, Rita Hunter, Gwyneth Jones, Robert Knie, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Amy Shuard, Pauline Tinsley, Elizabeth Vaughan, Annae Wilkens, Ann Hood, Linda Esther Gray.