Purcell's "really big show"

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695) The Fairy Queen Le Concert des Nations; Jordi Savall, cond. Auvidis 8583

On This Day

Births

• 1660 - Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, in Palermo; founder of the "Neopolitan School" of music and father of the composer, Dominico Scarlatti;

• 1752 - Baptismal date of German oboist and composer Ludwig August Lebrun, in Mannheim;

• 1810 - Danish conductor and composer Hans Christian Lumbye, in Copenhagen;

• 1843 - Austrian conductor and operetta composer Carl Michael Ziehrer, in Vienna;

• 1905 - English composer Alan Rawsthorne, in Haslingden;

Deaths

• 1864 - German composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (Jakob Liebmann Beer), age 72,in Paris;

• 1990 - American composer William Levi Dawson, age 90, in Montgomery, Ala.;

Premieres

• 1692 - Purcell: opera "The Fairy Queen," in London at the Queen's Theater, Dorset Garden;

• 1935 - Ibert: "Concertino da Camera" for saxophone and chamber orchestra, in Paris;

• 1936 - Prokofiev: "Peter and the Wolf" at a children's concert by the Moscow Philharmonic, conducted by the composer;

• 1947 - Copland: "In the Beginning" for mezzo-soprano and chorus, at Harvard University;

• 1947 - Schoenberg: String Trio, Op. 45, at Harvard University;

• 1951 - Cage: "Imaginary Landscape No. 4" for 12 radios, in New York;

• 1951 - Ulysses Kay: "Sinfonia" for orchestra, in Rochester, N.Y.;

• 1965 - Bolcom: "Oracle" for orchestra, in Seattle;

• 1965 - Grofé: "Trick or Treat: Halloween," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, André Kostelanetz conducting;

• 1981 - David Amram: Violin Concerto, by the St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting, with Charles Castleman the soloist;

• 1984 - Ezra Laderman: String Quartet No. 7, in New York City, by the Colorado Quartet;

• 1984 - Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Sunday in the Park with George";

• 1990 - Elliott Carter: Violin Concerto, by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, with Ole Böhn as soloist;

Others

• 1855 - American premiere of Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" (The Troubadour) at the Academy of Music in New York.

• 1872 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "Missa solemnis" in D (Op. 123), at Steinway Hall in New York , by the Church Music Association, Dr. James Pech conducting; Subsequent regional premieres of this work occurred in Cincinnati (May 19, 1880) and Boston (Mar. 12, 1897).