"Hot" new operas by Saariaho and Wagner

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) …à la fumée Petri Alanko, f; Anssi Karttunen, vcl; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Esa- Pekka Salonen, cond. Ondine 804

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Magic Fire Music, fr Die Walküre Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell, cond. CBS/Sony 46286

On This Day

Births

• 1892 - English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (Christian name Leon Dudley), in Chingford, to a Parsi father and Spanish-Sicilian mother); His major work, "Opus Clavicembalisticum," is one of the longest and most complex solo piano works ever written;

• 1910 - French composer Pierre Schaeffer, in Nancy; He pioneered a style of electronic music known as "musique concrète";

Deaths

• 1972 - American composer and pianist Oscar Levant, age 65, in Beverly Hills, Calif.;

• 1987 - American composer Vincent Persichetti, age 72, in Philadelphia;

Premieres

• 1814 - Rossini: opera, "Il Turco in Italia" (The Turk in Italy), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala;

• 1876 - first complete performance of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle continues at Bayreuth with a performance of "Die Walküre" (The Valkyrie); This opera had received its premiere performance in Munich on June 26, 1870;

• 1942 - Rubbra: Symphony No.4, in London;

• 1952 - R. Strauss: opera "Die Liebe der Danae," (The Love of Danae) produced posthumously at the Salzburg Festival; A dress rehearsal of the opera attended by the composer had taken place at Salzburg on August 16, 1944, but the actual premiere was cancelled due to the war; Both performances were conducted by Clemens Krauss;

• 1954 - Malcolm Arnold: Harmonica Concerto, at a Proms Concert in London, by harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler;

• 1961 - Cowell: "Scherzo" (from "Air and Scherzo") for saxophone and piano, at the Camp Kinhaven in Weston, Vt., by saxophonist Sigurd Rascher; Cowell later arranged this work for saxophone and chamber orchestra;

Others

• 1703 - Johann Sebastian Bach begins his duties as organist at the Bonifaciuskirche in Arnstadt, where he would stay for four years (see also: August 4 and 9)