Adams rolls into the new century

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

John Adams (b. 1947) Century Rolls Emanuel Ax, piano; Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph von Dohnányi, cond. Nonesuch 79607

On This Day

Births

• 1683 - French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, in Dijon;

• 1862 - French organist and composer Léon Boëllmann, in Ensisheim, Alsace;

• 1896 - Catalonian-born British composer Roberto Gerhard, in Valls (near Tarragona, Spain);

• 1906 - Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Sept. 12);

• 1932 - Canadian pianist and occasional composer Glenn Gould, in Toronto;

Deaths

• 1849 - Austrian composer Johann Strauss, Sr., age 45, in Vienna;

• 1916 - Czech band composer Julius Fucik, age 44, in Leitmeritz; He composed the famous "circus" march entitled "Entrance of the Gladiators";

• 1997 - French composer and pianist Jean Françaix, age 85, in Paris; The composer himself has written that his family name is pronounced with the final "x" sounded (as in "Aix"-en-Provence), although it's commonly pronounced "Français" by many;

Premieres

• 1870 - Smetana: opera "The Bartered Bride" (4th version), in Prague at the Provisional Theater;

• 1907 - Sibelius: Symphony No. 3, in Helsinki, with the composer conducting;

• 1925 - Hindemith: "Kammermusik" No. 4, Op. 36, no. 3, in Dessau, Germany, conducted by Franz von Hoesslin, with Licco Amar the violin soloist;

• 1936 - R. Vaughan Williams: choral suite "Five Tudor Portraits," in Norwich, England, conducted by the composer;

• 1960 - Paul Ben-Haim: "Capriccio" for Piano and Orchestra, in Tel Aviv;

• 1962 - Piston: "Lincoln Center Festival Overture," by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, at the third concert scheduled at the newly-opened "Philharmonic Hall" (now Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center in New York City;

• 1966 - Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2, in Moscow, by the USSR State Symphony, with Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist and the composer's son, Maxim, conducting;

• 1980 - Bernstein: "Divertimento" for Orchestra, by the Boston Symphony conducted by Seiji Ozawa;

• 1986 - Husa: Concerto for Orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta;

• 1997 - John Adams: Piano Concerto ("Century Rolls"), at Severance Hall, with pianist Emanuel Ax and the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi;

Others

• 1966 - On the occasion of his 60th birthday, Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich is nominated as a "Hero of Socialist Labor" by the Soviet government.