"Don Giovanni" in Prague (and Vienna)

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) Don Giovanni Michele Pertusi (as Leporello); London Philharmonic; Sir Georg Solti, cond. London 455 500

On This Day

Premieres

• 1787 - Mozart: opera, "Don Giovanni'," in Prague at the Nationaltheater;

• 1837 - Donizetti: opera, "Roberto Devereux," at the.Teatro San Carlos, in Naples;

• 1920 - Edward Burlingame Hill: symphonic poem “The Fall of the House of Usher” (after Poe), by the Boston Symphony with Pierre Monteux conducting;

• 1950 - Copland: Quartet for Piano and Strings, by the New York Quartet at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. at a Coolidge Festival concert; This work was commissioned by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Coolidge Foundation;

• 1955 - Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1, by the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny Svetlanov conducting, with David Oistrakh as the soloist;

• 1956 - Bernstein: musical "Candide" (original version) in Boston as a trial run at the Colonial Theater, directed by Tyrone Guthrie and conducted by Samuel Krachmalnick; The show opened officially on New York at the Martin Beck Theater on December 1, 1956; According to Opera America magazine, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade;

• 1966 - Milhaud: "Music for Indiana," by the Indianapolis Symphony;

• 1967 - Persichetti: Symphony No. 8, in Berea, Ohio, by the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Orchestra, George Poinar conducting;

• 1980 - Off Broadway premiere of Sondheim: revue "Marry Me a Little"(compiled from various Sondheim musicals);

Others

• 1734 - The famous Italian castrato Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) makes his debut in London at the opening performance of "The Opera of the Nobility," a company formed to rival Handel's "Royal Academy" (Gegorian date: Nov. 9); The performance takes place at the King's Theater in the Haymarket, formerly the home of Handel's company;

• 1739 - Handel advertises for subscriptions to his new set of Concertos, Op. 6 (Gregorian date: Nov. 9); They are published by John Walsh the younger on April 23 (Gregorian date: May 4) the following year.

• 1739 - Handel completes in London his Concerto Grosso in c, Op. 6, no. 8 (see Julian date: Oct. 18);