Leoncavallo's "Painted Smiles?"

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857 – 1919) excerpts, fr Pagliacci Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, cond. Philips 438 132

On This Day

Births

• 1904 - American composer and jazz pianist Thomas "Fats" Waller, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1895 - Austrian composer Franz von Suppé, age 76, in Vienna;

Premieres

• 1739 - Rameau: opera-ballet "Les Fêtes d'Hébé," in Paris;

• 1892 - Leoncavallo: opera "Pagliacci," in Milan at Teatro dal Verme, with Arturo Toscanini conducting;

• 1925 - Busoni: "Doctor Faust," posthumously, in Dresden (completed by Philip Jarnach);

• 1956 - Perischetti: Piano Sonata No. 7, at the Philadelphia Conservatory, by pianist Robert Smith;

• 1962 - Stockhausen: "Momente" for soprano, choruses, and instruments, in Cologne;

• 1980 - Jacob Druckman: "Prism" for orchestra, by the Baltimore Symphony, Sergiu Commissiona conducting;

• 1983 - Dave Brubeck: "Pange Lingua" Variations for chorus, jazz quartet, and orchestra, at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, Calif., with Russell Gloyd conducting;

• 1987 - Harrison Birtwistle: opera "The Mask of Orpheus," at the London Coliseum by the English National Opera, Elgar Howarth and Paul Daniel conducting;

• 2000 - Bruce Adolphe: "Tyrannosaurus Sue (A Cretaceous Concerto)", at the Field Museum in Chicago, by the Chicago Chamber Players.