Mozart and Gershwin go pop?

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

W.A. Mozart (1756 - 1791): Marriage of Figaro Wind Suite Amadeus Ensemble; Julius Rudel, cond. MusicMasters 67118

George Gershwin (1899 - 1937): Catfish Row Suite, fr Porgy and Bess Chicago Symphony; James Levine, cond. DG 445 768

On This Day

Births

• 1582 - Early Italian opera composer Marco da Gagliano, in Gagliano;

• 1602 - Baptism of English madrigal composer William Lawes, in Salisbury ; He was the younger brother of the more famous English composer Henry Lawes (1696-1662);

• 1872 - Swedish violinist and composer Hugo Alfvén in Stockholm;

• 1895 - American organist and composer Leo Sowerby, in Grand Rapids, Mich.;

• 1899 - Icelandic composer Jón Leifs, in Sólheimar;

Deaths

• 1904 - Czech composer Antonin Dvorák, age 62, in Prague;

• 1978 - Soviet composer Aram Khachaturian, age 74, in Moscow;

Premieres

• 1786 - Mozart: "The Marriage of Figaro" in Vienna at the Old Burgtheater;

• 1886 - Franck: "Symphonic Variations" for piano and orchestra, in Paris;

• 1909 - Rachmaninoff: "The Isle of the Dead," in Moscow, conducted by the composer (Julian date: April 18);

• 1925 - Piston: Three Pieces for flute, clarinet, and bassoon (his first published work), at the École Normale in Paris, by the Blanquart-Coste-Dherin trio;

• 1939 - Barber: "The Virgin Martyrs," with students from the Curtis Institute of Music on a CBS Radio broadcast, with the composer conducting;

• 1971 - Dave Brubeck: oratorio "Truth Has Fallen," at the opening of the Center for the Arts in Midland, Mich.;

• 1987 - Harrison Birtwistle: "Endless Parade" for trumpet, vibraphone and strings, in Zurich (Switzerland) by the Collegium Musicum conducted by Paul Sacher, with trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger;

• 2002 - Jennifer Higdon: "Blue Cathedral," by the Curtis Institute Symphony conducted by Robert Spano, commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Curtis Institute of Music;

• 2003 - Lukas Foss: Concertino ("Passacaglia, Bachanalia, Passacaglia") for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, by the New York Choral Artists and the New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur conducting;

Others

• 1761 - Franz Joseph Haydn begins his 30-year tenure as Second-Kapellmeister at Prince Esterhazy's estate in Eisenstadt; In 1766, Haydn succeeded the much older composer Gregor Joseph Werner as First-Kapellmeister;

• 1825 - first documented American performance of Haydn's Symphony No. 100 ("Military") at Boylston Hall in Boston, at a benefit concert for Haydn's former pupil, Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner (1767-1836);

• 1837 - American premiere of Rossini's opera "Semiramide" in New Orleans;

• 1938 - The German Reichsmusikkammer (Imperial Ministry of Music) forbids Aryan music instructors to teach pupils of Jewish extraction.