Composer T.J. Anderson

Old and new opera anniversaries.

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): Polovtsian Dances, fr Prince Igor
Boston Pops; Arthur Fiedler, cond.
BMG 62698
&
T.J. Anderson (b. 1928): Chamber Concerto (Remembrances)
Cleveland Chamber Symphony; Edwin London, cond.
Albany TROY-303

Melodies from Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" and other works by this Russian composer were appropriated for the 1953 George Forrest/Robert Wright. Broadway musical "Kismet." One tune from the "Polovtsian Dances" became the now-familiar pop song "Stranger in Paradise." A melody from Borodin's String Quartet became the song "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads."

Births:
1801 - German composer Albert Lortzing, in Berlin;
1906 - American composer Miriam Gideon, in Greeley, Colorado;
1923 - American composer Ned Rorem, in Richmond, Indiana.

Premieres:
1931 - Stravinsky: Violin Concerto, composer conducting, soloist Samuel Dushkin;
1941 - Barbirolli conducts William Grant Still's "Plain Chant for America" at New York Philharmonic concert;

Other:
1881 - First concert by Concerts Lamoureux, in Paris, founded by Charles Lamoureux.

Drawing of composer Francis Poulenc by John MinnionPearl/Pavilion Records Ltd.

A Poulenc premiere for the BBC . . . and Messiaen in San Francisco.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Sinfonietta
Orchestre de Paris; Georges Prêtre, cond.
EMI Classics 69446
&
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Les Offrandes oubliées
Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille; Myung-Whun Chung, cond.
DG 445 947

Vive la différence! The awesome landscape of America's southwest inspired a grandiose, 90-minute Messiaen composition for solo piano and orchestra entitled "Des Canyons aux étoiles (From the canyons to the stars)," which premiered in New York in 1974; Poulenc's witty Piano Concerto, which premiered in Boston in 1950, briefly quotes "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" at one point.

Births:
1811 - German composer, conductor and pianist Ferdinand Hiller, in Frankfurt am Main;
1882 - Hungarian composer Imre [Emmerich] Kálman, in Siófok;
1925 - Italian composer Luciano Berio, in Oneglia, Imperia;
1929 - American composer George Crumb, in Charleston, West Virginia;
1931 - Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, in Chistopol, Tatar ASSR;

Deaths:
1725 - Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, in Naples, age 65;
1948 - Austrian composer Franz Lehár, in Bad Ischl, age 78;
1949 - Cuban composer and violinist Joaquin Nin y Castellanos, in Havana, age 70;
1971 - American composer Carl Ruggles, in Bennington, Vermont, age 95;

Premieres:
1737 - Rameau: opera, "Castor et Pollux," in Paris;
1885 - J. Strauss, Jr.: operetta, "The Gypsy Baron," in Vienna;

Other:
1818 - Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, plays his first public concert, in Berlin;
1919 - First performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Rothwell, conductor.

Composer and percussion virtuoso Evelyn Glennie.BMG Classics

A Brahms anniversary and Glennie's Greatest "Hits."

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Symphony No. 4 in e, Op. 98
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Sir Charles Mackerras, cond.
Telarc 80450
&
Minoru Miki (b. 1930): Marimba Spiritual
Evelyn Glennie, marimba; ensemble
BMG Classics 47629

Evelyn Glennie is scheduled to perform a new Percussion Concerto by the Chinese-born composer Chen Yi with the National Symphony of Washington, DC, next season.

Births:
1825 - Austrian composer and conductor Johann Strauss, Jr. (a.k.a. The Younger or II), in Vienna;
1838 - French composer Georges Bizet, in Paris;
1864 - Russian composer Alexander Grechaninov, in Moscow;
1923 - Australian composer Don Banks, in South Melbourne;

Premieres:
1823 - Weber: opera, "Euryanthe," at the Kärtnertor Theater, Vienna;
1875 - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat, in Boston, at the Music Hall, soloist Hans von Bülow, conductor Benjamin J. Lang;
1912 - R. Strauss: opera, "Ariadne auf Naxos," and incidental music to "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," in Stuttgart, composer conducting;
1923 - Milhaud: ballet, "La Création du Monde," in Paris, by the Ballets Suédois at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

Portrait of Sir Edward Elgar.

Elgar's rehearsal woes and a Diamond premiere.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Cello Concerto
Jacqueline du Pré, vcl; London Symphony; Sir John Barbirolli, cond.
EMI Classics 47329
&
David Diamond (b. 1915): Symphony No. 8
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond.
Delos 3141

Here's a quote from American composer David Diamond: "My emotional life and reactions to certain events and situations have worked hand in hand with purely abstract musical concepts and manipulations of material; and it was always the material that remained foremostly important to me..."

Births:
1685 - Italian composer and harpsichordist Domenico Scarlatti, in Naples;
1694 - Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman, in Stockholm;
1898 - American composer and teacher Beryl Rubinstein, in Athens, Georgia;

Premieres:
1873 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 2, in Vienna, composer conducting;
1930 - Shostakovich: ballet, "The Age of Gold," in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

Impressionistic music by Debussy and Crumb.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Nocturnes
Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, cond.
DG 439 896
&
George Crumb (b. 1929): A Haunted Landscape
New York Philharmonic; Arthur Weisberg, cond.
New World 326

Here's a quote from American composer George Crumb: "I have always considered music to be a very strange substance, a substance endowed with magical properties. Music is tangible, almost palpable, and yet unreal, illusive. Music is analyzable only on the most mechanistic level; the important elements -- the spiritual impulse, the psychological curse, the metaphysical implications -- are understandable only in terms of the music itself."

Births:
1782 - Italian composer and violinist Niccolò Paganini, in Genoa;
1912 - American-Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow, in Texarkana, Arkansas (became naturalized Mexican citizen in 1956);
1927 - American composer and teacher Dominick Argento, in York, Pennsylvania;

Premieres:
1886 - Mussorgsky: "A Night on Bald Mountain," in re-orchestration by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, in St. Petersburg, by the Russian Symphony conducted by Rimsky-Korsakov;
1901 - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2, in Moscow, composer as soloist;
1911 - Glazunov: Violin Concerto (first American performance), Boston Symphony Orchestra with soloist Efrem Zimbalist;
1919 - Elgar: Cello Concerto, in London, soloist Felix Salmond;
1975 - Druckman's "Lamia" at New York Philharmonic concert;
1994 - NY premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis's "New Era Dances" with Slatkin conducting.