July 20 Today in classical music history

 Ignaz Vitzthumb

1600 Birth of composer Simon Ives

1720 Birth of composer Ignaz Vitzthumb

1726 Birth of composer William Jones

1732 Death of Italian composer Francesco Bartolommeo Conti in Vienna. b-Firenze, 20 JAN 1681.

1744 Birth of composer Henri Hamal

1752 Death of German born English composer and conductor John Christopher Pepusch at age 85 in London. b-Berlin, 1667. In London from 1700, arranged The Beggar's Opera.

1761 Birth of composer Joseph Lefebvre

1762 Birth of composer Jakob Haibel

1776 Birth of English publisher Samuel CHAPPELL, founder of the English music publishing firm.

1779 Birth of composer Ignaz Schuster

1781 Birth of American composer Anthony Philip HEINRICH. d-1861.

1796 Birth of composer Edward Hodges

1803 Birth of composer Jakob Zeugheer

1819 Birth of composer Paul Henrion

1828 Birth of soprano Marie Geistlinge in Graz Died 28 Sep 1903 Created Rosalinde in Fledermaus (Strauss J) Fantasca in Indigo (Strauss J)

1837 Birth of composer Hans Sommer

1868 Birth of Polish-Bohemian composer Johann Friedrich KITTL in Lissa. d-Lissa, Prussia, 20 JUL 1868.

1870 Birth of Austrian composer, violinist and conductor Luigi von KUNITS in Vienna. In United States from 1893. Toronto Symphony from 1915.

1871 Birth of Australian pianist Ernest HUTCHESON in Melbourne. Naturalized American. President of Juilliard School of Music in 1937.

1872 Birth of French composer Deodat de SEVERAC, Saint Félix, Haute-Garonne. Studied at the Toulouse Music Conservatory, 1893-1896. Schola Cantorum, Paris, 1896-1907. Composition with Albéric Magnard and Isaac Albéniz. Vincent d'Indy, piano, Charles Bordes, choral conducting. He wrote much of his piano music at this time. d-Céret, Pyrénées-Orientales 24 MAR 1921.

1872 Birth of composer Alick Maclean

1873 Birth of Polish composer Witold MALISZEWSKI. Director of Chopin School in Warsaw.

1877 Birth of Hermann Jadlowker Tenor Born 20 July 1877 Riga Latvia Died 13 May 1953 Debut as Gomez in Nachtlager von Granada (Kreutzer) Teacher, Joseph Gansbacher Pupils, Heinrich Tessmer, Hans Frehlich, Josef Pollak Created King's Son in Konigskinder (Humperdinck) Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss)

1895 Birth of soprano Mercedes Capsir in Barcelona. Died 14 Mar 1969. Debut as Gilda in Rigoletto (Verdi) 1914 Teacher, Bidai Neunei Pupil, Juan Oncina Sang in premiere of Re (Leoncavallo)

1903 Birth of soprano Anny Helm in Vienna.  Debut 1924 Teachers, Gertrude Forstel, Ernst Grenzebach, Marie Gutheil-Schroder

1908 Birth of Swedish pianist and composer Gunnar de FRUMERIE nr Stockholm. d-Morby, 9 SEP 1987.

1910 Birth of Czech born British conductor Vilem TAUSKY.

1914 Birth of baritone Hermann Uhde in Bremen. d- 10 Oct 1965. Debut as Titurel in Parsifal (Wagner) Teachers, Philip Kraus, Mme Uhde, Hans Duhan Created Creon in Antigone (Orff) Faust / Bloom / Josef K in Faust III (Bentzon) Elis in Bergwerk zu Falun (Wagner-Regeny)

1920 Birth of bass Andrew Foldi in Budapest. Debut as Biondello in Taming of the Shrew (Giannini) 1954 Teachers, Maria Carpi, Richard De Young, Martial Singher Created Mr Parker in Blood Moon (Dello Joio) John W Diller in Blackwood & Co (Schibler)

1920 FP of Igor Stravinsky's Grande Suite from the staged work "The Soldier's Tale," at Wigmore Hall, with Ernest Ansermet conducting in London.

1923 Birth of bass-baritone Franco Calabrese in Palermo, Died 13 Nov 1992. Debut 1947 Teacher, Pizzorusso Sang in premiere of Dottore di Ventro (Vlad) Canto del Ciglio (Malipiero) Job (Dallapiccola) Due Timidi (Rota) Viaggio D'Europa (Rieti) Linguaggio dei Fiori (Rossellini) Canto del Cigno (Chailly)

1924 FP of Arnold Schoenberg's Serenade for chamber ensemble, in Donaueschingen, Germany. CD-Schoenberg: Five Orchestra Pieces, Survivor from Warsaw

1927 Birth of Austrian conductor Michael Gielen 

1933 Birth of composer Jose Vicente Asuar

1931 Birth of tenor Gregory Dempsey in Melbourne. Debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1954 Teachers, Annie Portnoy, Henry Portnoy Created Bothwell in Mary Queen of Scots (Musgrave) Boconnion in Mines of Sulphur (Rodney-Bennett) Tom Wayson in Decision (Musgrave)

1932 Birth of Koren-American avante-garde composer-artist Nam June PAIK in Seoul,Korea. He studied with Stockhausen and Cage, He worked in Germany and the USA, exploring mixed media and video techniques. Works include Opera Sextronique written for cellist Charlotte Moorman, who performed the piece topless, and hommage à john cage where two pianos are destroyed in the performance.

1933 Birth of composer Jose Vicente Asuar

1939 Death of British conductor Sir Dan Godfrey, in Bournemouth, England.

1939 Death of soprano Jeannette Vreeland. Born 30 Sep 1896 in Los Angeles. Teachers, Percy Rector Stevens, Hetty Louise Sinf, John Wilcox

1942 Birth of soprano Lou Ann Wyckoff in Berkeley California. Debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Mozart) 1967 Teachers, Armen Boyajian, Irmgard Hartmann, Gibnor King, Vivian Long Joseph Metternich Created Rosaline in Love's Labour Lost (Nabokov)

1942 FP of Miaskovsky's Symphony No. 23, in Moscow.

1945 Birth of  baritone Vladimir Malchenko in Smolensk. Debut as Yeletsky in Pique Dame (Tchaikovsky) 1971 Teacher, V G Sopina

1947 Birth of soprano Colette Alliot-Lugaz. Created Page in Passion de Gilles (Boesman)

1956 Birth of American composer Michael GORDON in Miami Beach, FL.

1957 Birth of Austrian composer Gernot WOLFGANG in Bad Gastein, Austria.

1957 Death of baritone Emil Schipper. Born 1882 in Vienna. Debut as Telramud in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1904 Teacher, Guarino

1958 Birth of American composer Michael GORDON in Miami, FL, raised in Managua, Nicaragua. Also see publisher bio.

1958 FP of Xenakis' Achorripsis for 21 instruments, in Brussels.

1962 Birth of Russian composer Philipp KOLTSOV in Moscow.

1970 FP of Morton Feldman's Mme. Press Died Last Week at Ninety, an orchestral work dedicated to his Russian piano teacher, in St. Paul de Venice, France.

1996 Death of soprano Natalia Dmitrevna Shpiller. Born 7 Sep 1909 in Kiev. Died 20 July 1996 Teacher, A P Shperling

1997 Death of Russian ballet dancer Alexandra Danilova in NYC.

2004 FP of Zhou Long's The Immortal for orchestra. BBC Proms concert, BBC Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting. Also see: BBC.