Today in classical music history August 18

Vaclav Josef Bartolomej Praupner
  • 1745 Birth of composer Vaclav Josef Bartolomej Praupner
  • 1613 Death of Italian composer Giovanni Maria Artusi in Bologna. b-Bologna, 1540.
  • 1745 Birth of German bass Ludwig Fischer in Mainz Died 10 July 1825 Debut in Fiera di Venezia (Salieri) 1772 Teacher, Anton Raaff Created Osmin in Entfuhrung (Wagner) Brennus in Brenno (Reichardt) Rudolf II in Gunther von Schwarzburg (Holzbauer) Goffredo in Gerusalemme Liberata (Righini) Her von Bar in Rauchfangkehrer (Salieri)
  • 1750 (19th)Birth of Italian composer and conductor Antonio SALIERI nr. Verona. d-7 MAY 1825.
  • 1769 Birth of composer Alexandre Stievenard
  • 1785 Birth of German piano teacher Friedrich WIECK in Saxony, taught daughter Clara, Hans Von Bulow and Robert Schumann. d-Nr. Dresden, 6 OCT 1873.
  • 1786 FP by the Paris Conservatory Orchestra.
  • 1820 FP of Schubert's opera Die Zauberharfe in Vienna. Only the overture is performed today under the new title Rosamunde.
  • 1838 Birth of Austrian baritone Angelo Neumann in Vienna. Died 20 Dec 1910 Debut 1859 Teacher, Therese Stilke-Sessi Pupils, Gertrude Forstel, Werner Alberti
  • 1842 Death of Portugese composer João Domingos Bomtempo in Lisbon. b-Lisbon, 28 DEC 1775.
  • 1849 Birth of French composer Benjamin GODARD (go DAHR') in Paris. d-Cannes, 10 JAN 1895.
  • 1856 Birth of American composer Charles Hutchinson GABRIEL in Wilton, Iowa. d-LA, CA 15 SEP 1932.
  • 1856 Birth of composer Jan Karol Gali
  • 1859 Birth of Hungarian tenor Desider Aranyi, or 1850, in Szathmar Hungary. Died 21 June 1923. Debut as Raoul in Huguenots 1890 Teacher, Emmerich Bellovicz
  • 1864 Birth of Italian singer Gemma BELLINCIONI at Como, Monza. d-Naples, 23 APR 1950. Photo. Debut in Segreto della Duchessa (Orefice) May 1879 Teachers, Giovanni Corsi, Luigia Ponti Dell'Armi, Carlotta Soroldoni Roberto Stagno Pupils, Bianca Bellincioni, Desma De Cecco Created Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana Fedora in Fedora Marcella in Marcella (Giordano) Moina in Moina (De Lara) Cabrera in Cabrera (Dupont) Cristina in Mala Vita (Giordano)
  • 1866 Birth of Swedish soprano Martina Petrini in Falun, Sweden. Died 2 July 1932. Debut as Lakme in Lakme (Delibes) Teachers, A Bax, Mathilde Machesi.
  • 1869 Birth of American tenor Ellison Van Hoose in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Died 28 Mar 1936. Debut as Tannhauser in Tannhauser (Wagner) 1897 Teachers, Perry Averill, Antonio Cotogni, Jean De Reszke, Fidel Konig Isadora Luckstone.
  • 1873 Birth of Austrian tenor Leo SLEZAK in Maehrisch-Schoenberg, Moravia. d-Bavaria, 1 JUN 1946. After 1932, he began a new career in motion pictures, appearing in forty-three films. In 1943, he settled at Rottach-Egern, Germany, and published three lighthearted books of an autobiographical character, and his final unfinished book was completed after 1946 by his daughter, Margarete (1901-1953), also a singer. ("Mein Lebensmärchen"). MET: Début: Nov. 17, 1909 [Otello] Otello, 4 seasons (1909-13) 112 perf., 10 roles. Debut as Lohengrin in Lohengrin (Wagner) Teachers, Jean de Reszke, Adolf Robinson. Father of actor Walter Slezak. Grandfather of TV actress, 'One Life To Live', Erika Slezak.
  • 1873 Birth of American popular music composer Otto HARBACH in Salt Lake City. d-NYC, 24 JUN 1963.
  • 1878 Birth of composer Fritz Brun
  • 1881 Birth of German composer Hermann ZILCHER in Frankfurt-am-Main. d-Wurzburg, 1 JAN 1948.
  • 1882 Birth of composer Marcel Louis Auguste Samuel-Rousseau
  • 1884 Birth of English conductor Basil CAMERON in Reading. d-Leominster, 26 JUN 1975.
  • 1892 Death of Italian singer and actress Zelia Trebelli in Etretat. b-Paris, 1838. She was a leading operatic contralto of the day who sang for members of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace on 11 May 1870. Photo. Debut as Rosina in Barbiere di Siviglia 1859 Teacher, Pierre-Francois Wartel Pupil, Anna Norrie
  • 1893 Birth of Canadian conductor and composer Ernest C. MACMILLAN in Mimico, Ontario. d-Toronto, 6 MAY 1973.
  • 1897 Birth of German bass Adolf Vogel, in Munich. d. Dec. 20, 1969. Début [Daland] Flying Dutchman (1923). MET: Début: Dec. 3, 1937 [Algerich] Siegfried, 2 seasons (1937-39) 41 perf., 6 works. Debut as Daland in Flying Dutchman (Wagner) 1923 Teachers, Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, J Kiechle Pupils, Norman Bailey, Rudolf Christ, Kurt Equiluz, Peter Wimberger Regine Lang-Hitzelberger, Einojuhani Rautawaara
  • 1902 Birth of composer Julius Kalas
  • 1903 Birth of composer Ake Olof Sebastian Udden
  • 1905 Birth of composer Peter Paul Kreuder
  • 1906 Gustav Mahler conducts Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg. Mozart Festival included Mozart's Cosi fan tutte conducted by Richard Strauss.
  • 1907 Birth of American composer Howard SWANSON in Atlanta, Georgia. d-NYC, 12 NOV 1978.
  • 1907 Birth of Canadian tenor Irwin Dillon, in Toronto. d. Mission Viejo, CA, Jan 13, 2003.
  • 1907 Birth of composer Otto Mortensen
  • 1908 Birth of composer Milan Ristic
  • 1909 Birth of Polish soprano Miliza Korjus. d. Aug. 26, 1980.
  • 1910 Birth of German-born American composer and organist Herman BERLINSKI in Leipzig. d-2001. Donated works to Library of Congress.
  • 1912 FP of F. Schreker's opera Der ferne Klang 'The Distant Sound', at the Opernhaus in Frankfurt.
  • 1914 Death of Russian pianist, teacher and composer Annette Essipoff in Leningrad. b-St. Petersburg, 12 FEB 1851. m-Mark Hambourg
  • 1916 Birth of English pianist Dame Moura LYMPANY Moura Lympany plays Rachmaninov & Khachaturian (Mary Johnstone) in Saltash, England. d-28 MAR 2005. Search  for Moura LYMPANY
  • 1919 Birth of tenor Gustav Papp. d. Feb. 17, 1994.
  • 1920 Birth of Italian tenor Renato Ercolani, in Perugia. d. Milan, Apr. 5, 2002.
  • 1933 Birth of Belgian bass Jules Bastin, in Bridge-Ligneuville. d. 1996. Debut as Caronte in Orfeo (Monteverdi) 1960 Teacher, Frederic Anspach Pupil, Daniel Ottevaere.
  • 1933 Birth of Ukranian soprano Bela Roudenko. Debut 1955 Teacher, Olga Blagovidova Created Yolan in Milana (Mayboroda) Yarana in Arsenal (Mayboroda)
  • 1937 Death of Georgian composer Heraclius Djabadary in Nice. b-Tbilissi, 17 OCT 1891. Works list.
  • 1937 The first FM radio construction permit was issued. It went to W1X0J (later to become WGTR) in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.
  • 1938 FP of B. Britten's Piano Concerto, composer was soloist, at a Proms Concert conducted by Sir Henry Wood at Royal Albert Hall in London.
  • 1940 Birth of American mezzo-soprano Joy Davidson, in Fort Collins,CO. MET: Début: Apr. 19, 1976 [Adalgisa] Norma 1 season (1975-76) 2 perf., 1 work.
  • 1942 Birth of Canadian baritone Allen Monk, in Calgary. MET Début Mar. 27, 1976 [Schaunard] La Bohème, 10 seasons (1975-84, 85-86) 272 perf., 23 roles.
  • 1942 Death of Austrian composer Erwin Schulhoff at age 48, in a German concentration camp in Wülzburg. b-Praha, Czech Republic, 8 JUN 1894.
  • 1943 Birth of English composer and conductor Edward COWIE in Birmingham.
  • 1944 Birth of English composer Goff RICHARDS.
  • 1944 Birth of Canadian mezzo-soprano Lyn Vernon.
  • 1946 Birth of American tenor Barry Lee Busse, in Gloversville, NY. Teachers, Ellen Rapp, Marlena Malas, Ted Taylor Created Louis Sullivan in Shining Brow (Hagen) Nosferatu in Nosferatu (Peters)
  • 1946 Sir Eugene Goossens conducted FP of John Antill's ballet suite Corroboree in Sydney, Australia.
  • 1947 Death of baritone Karl August Neumann. Born 1897. Created 2nd Shopper in Peer Gynt (Egk) 1st Beggar in Rembrandt van Rijn (Von Klenau)
  • 1950 Birth of Argentinian composer Carlos MICHáNS in Buenos Aires.
  • 1956 FP of Henry Brant's On the Nature of Things for spatially grouped instruments and strings, in Bennington, VT.
  • 1957 Birth of Chinese-born American composer Tan DUN (Tahn Doon) in Hunan, China.
  • 1966 FP of Ulysseys Kay's Markings dedicated to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester, MI.
  • 1972 Birth of American composer and writer Raymond J. LUSTIG.
  • 1975 Death of Italian baritone Luigi Borgonovo. Born 19 Jan 1899 in Milan. Debut 1925 Pupil, Don Garrard Created Polinnesse in Ariodante (Rota)
  • 1978 Birth of Russian composer Lev ZHURBIN in Moscow.
  • 1994 Death of tenor Rodolfo Moraro. Born 22 Dec 1908 in Capodistria. Debut in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) 1939 Created Doctor in Sasso Pagano (Viozzi).
  • 1994 Death of German bass Gottlob Frick. Gottlob Frick Sings Arias and ScenesBorn 28 July1906 in Oldbrunn, Wurttemburg. Debut as Daland in Flying Dutchman (Wagner) 1927 Teachers, Neudorfer-Opitz, Fritz Windgassen Created Caliban in Zauberinsel (Sutermeister) Tischlermeister in Hochzeit des Jobs (Haas) Sang in premiere of Irische Legend (Egk)
  • 2004 Death of American film music composer Elmer BERNSTEIN in Ojai, CA. Academy Award-winning composer of film scores: Thoroughly Modern Millie [1967]; Sudden Fear, The Man with the Golden Arm, Ten Commandments, Sweet Smell of Success, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Walk on the Wild Side, and The Magnificent Seven. Studied with Roger Sessions. He began his career as a concert pianist. 2001 marked his 50th anniversary as a feature film composer who has written the music for over 200 major film and television scores. BIOGRAPHY Obit link