Stravinsky's Birthday Greeting

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) Symphony No. 2 Russian National Orchestra; Mikhail Pletnev, cond. DG 449 967

Patty Hill Happy Birthday English Chamber Orchestra; Donald Fraser, cond. BMG 61488

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) Greeting Prelude London Symphony: Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. BMG 68865

On This Day

Births

• 1898 - Italian-born American jazz violinist Joe Venuti, in Lecco;

• 1905 - French composer and conductor Eugène Bozza, in Nice;

Deaths

• 1931 - American composer George Whitefield Chadwick, age 76, in Boston;

• 1972 - German-born American composer Stefan Wolpe, age 69, in New York;

Premieres

• 1739 - Handel: oratorio "Israel in Egypt," in London at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket; As an intermission feature, Handel's new Organ Concerto in F ("The Cuckoo and the Nightingale") is also premiered (Gregorian date: April 15);

• 1859 - Meyerbeer: opera "Le Pardon de Ploërmel" (Dinorah), in Paris;

• 1867 - Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 1, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, by violinist Pablo de Sarasate;

• 1897 - Chausson: "Poème" for violin and orchestra, in Paris, at a Colonne Concert with Eugene Ysäye as soloist;

• 1955 - Stravinsky: "Greeting Prelude" (for the 80th birthday of conductor Pierre Monteux), by the Boston Symphony conducted by Charles Munch;

• 1964 - Sondheim: musical "Anyone Can Whistle" on Broadway; The show ran for only nine performances, closing on April 11, 1964; Nevertheless, the day after its closing, Columbia Records executive Goddard Lieberson makes an original cast recording that becomes a best-seller;

• 1971 - Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Company";

• 1975 - Rochberg: Violin Concerto, by the Pittsburgh Symphony, with Isaac Stern as soloist;

• 1977 - Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"), in Royan, France, with soprano soloist Stefania Woytowicz and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour;

Others

• 1954 - Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (age 87) leads his last concert with the NBC Symphony, an all-Wagner program.