"Fryed" Santa?

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

William Henry Fry (1813-1864) Santa Claus (A Christmas Symphony) Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Tony Rowe, cond. Naxos 559057

On This Day

Births

• 1879 - Russian composer and pianist Nicolai Medtner (see Jan. 5, 1880);

• 1881 - American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman, in Johnstown, Pa.;

• 1950 - American composer Libby Larsen, in Wilmington, Del.;

Deaths

• 1453 - English composer John Dunstable, age c. 65, in London;

• 1935 - Austrian composer Alban Berg, age 50, in Vienna;

• 1975 - American composer and conductor Bernard Herrmann, age 64, in Los Angeles, after completing the filmscore for Scorsese's "Taxi Driver";

Premieres

• 1739 - Handel: revival performance of oratorio "Acis and Galetea" (Julian date: Dec. 13);

• 1871 - Verdi: opera "Aida" in Cairo, Egypt, at the Khedival Theater;

• 1951 - Menotti: opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" as a TV broadcast on the NBC network; According to Opera America magazine, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade;

Others

• 1920 - Last operatic appearance ever of the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, in an evening performance of Halevy's "La Juive" (The Jewess) at the old Metropolitan Opera in New York City; Caruso would die in Naples (where he made his operatic debut on March 15, 1895) at the age of 48 on August 2, 1921;