Synopsis
Music Played in Today's Program
Modest Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881) Khovanschina Prelude Montreal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, cond. London 417 299
On This Day
Births
1882 - Russian-born American composer Igor Stravinsky, in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), near St Petersburg, (Gregorian date: June 17); In the 19th century, the Julian calendar lagged behind the Gregorian by 12 days, and in the 20th century by 13 days; For most of the 20th century, Stravinsky chose to celebrate his birthday on June 18th, but "officially" it was celebrated on June 17th;
1905 - Estonian-born Swedish composer Eduard Tubin, in Kalaste, near Tartu (Gregorian date: June 18);
1923 - American composer Daniel Pinkham, in Lynn, Mass.;
Deaths
1625 - English composer Orlando Gibbons, age 41, in Canterbury;
1722 - German composer Johann Kuhnau, age 61, in Leipzig;
1816 - Italian opera composer Giovanni Paisiello, age 76, in Naples;
1826 - German composer Carl Maria von Weber, age 39, in London;
1944 - Italian opera composer Riccardo Zandonai, age 61, in Pesaro;
Premieres
1715 - Handel: opera "Amadigi di Gauli" (Julian date: May 25);
1913 - Paris premiere of Mussorgsky: opera, "Khovantschina," in a version completed and orchestrated by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel;
2003 - Oliver Knussen: Symphony No. 4, by the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel conducting.
Others
1717 - For the last performance of Handel's opera "Rinaldo" at the King's Theater, the French dancer Marie Sallé appears as a performer for the first time in one of Handel's works (Greogorian date: June 16);
1971 - Conductor James Levine makes his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, conducting Puccini's "Tosca"; In 1973, Levine became the Met's principal conductor and in 1976 its music director.
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.