Happy Birthday, Antonio Vivaldi . . .

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Autumn, from The Four Seasons
Gil Shaham, violin; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon 439 933

Births:
1915 — Birth of Spanish-American composer and conductor Carlos Surinach in Barcelona;
1934 — Birth of Argentinean composer Mario Davidosvky in Buenos Aires;
1936 — Birth of German composer and pianist of Aribert Reiman in Berlin;

Premieres:
1791 — Mozart Piano Concerto No 27 in Vienna, with composer at the piano;
1877 — Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" Ballet at the Imperial Opera House in Moscow.

The fickle finger of fame . . .

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908): Piano Concerto No. 2 in d, Op. 23
Van Cliburn, p; Chicago Symphony; Walter Hendl, cond.
RCA/BMG 68480

Births:
1853 — American composer Arthur Foote in Salem, Mass.;
1887 — Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janiero;

Deaths:
1778 — English composer Thomas Arne (whose four-letter last name is frequently required to solve cross-word puzzles) in London;
1953 — Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in Moscow, on the same day as Soviet leader Joseph Stalin;

Premieres:
1904 — Ravel's String Quartet at a concert of the Societé Nationale de Musique.

Giuseppe Verdi

Sleep on it, Giuseppe . . .

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Prelude & Act I opening, from La Traviata
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; James Levine, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 435797 and 437 726

Births:
1870 — Austrian operetta composer Oscar Straus, in Vienna (he chose to spell his last name with one final "s" to set himself apart from the famous Strauss Family dynasty of waltz composers — he was not related);
1897 — Danish composer Knudage Riisager, in Port Kunda, Estonia;
1930 — American conductor Lorin Maazel, in Neuilly, France of American parents;

Deaths:
1932 — American "March King" John Philip Sousa, in Reading, Pa.;

Premieres:
1831 — Bellini's opera "La Sonnambula" at the Teatro Carcano in Milan;
1934 — Britten's "Simple Symphony," in Norwich.

Portrait of Maurice Ravel as a young man

A hostess with the most-est . . .

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Piano Concerto in G
Krystian Zimerman, piano; Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 449 213

Births:
1574 — Baptismal date of English madrigal composer John Wilbye in Diss, Norfolk;
1875 — French composer Maurice Ravel, in Ciborne, Basses-Pyrénées;

Deaths:
1786 Bohemian violinist and composer Franz (Frantisek) Benda in Neuendorf, near Potsdam;

Premieres:
1821 — During a benefit concert strings at the Kärtnertor theater in Vienna given by the Society of Ladies of Nobility for Preservation of Good and Useful Charities, Schubert's "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" (Song of the Spirits over the Waters) for male chorus and strings; on the same program, Schubert's songs "Erlkönig""(The Erl-King) and "Das Dörfchen" (The Little Village) performed in concert for the first time as well, alongside works by Mozart, Rossini and others.

Composer William Bolcom and his wife Joan Morris

A Bicentennial send-up . . .

William Bolcom (b. 1938): Piano Concerto
Marc-André Hamelin, piano; Ulster Orchestra; Dmitry Sitkovetsky, cond.
Hyperion 67170

Births:
1714 — C. P. E. Bach, third son of J. S. Bach, in Weimar;
1911 — Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness, in Somerville, Mass.;

Deaths:
1869 — French composer Hector Berlioz, in Paris, age 62;
1961 — British conductor and arranger Sir Thomas Beecham, age 81;
1983 — British composer Sir William Walton, on the island of Ischia (Italy), age 80;

Premieres:
1898 — Richard Strauss: "Don Quixote," in Cologne, Germany;
1905 — Elgar's "Introduction and Allegro" for Strings, in London;

Gustav Mahler

A musical love-letter?

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Adagietto, from Symphony No. 5
London Symphony; Sir Rudolf Schwartz, cond.
Everest 9032

Births:
1910 — American composer Samuel Barber, in Chester, Pa.;
1930 — American conductor Thomas Schippers, in Kalamazoo, Mich.;

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart

Call me Amadé . . .

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): Piano Concerto No. 21 in C (K. 467)
Alfred Brendel, piano; St. Martin's Academy; Sir Neville Marriner, cond.
Philips 442 269and 422507; Penguin Classics 460621

Mozart's piano concertos appear frequently on symphony orchestra programs these days, but that was not always the case. On a surviving acetate recording of Rudolf Serkin's debut broadcast concert with Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on February 23, 1936, the radio announcer can be heard stating that the audience has just heard Mozart's "seldom performed" Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat, K. 595.

Births:
1749 — Librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, opera collaborator with Mozart amd Salieri;
1839 — American organist and composer Dudley Buck, in Hartford, Connecticut;
1844 — Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, in Pamplona;
1892 — French composer Arthur Honegger, in La Havre, France, of Swiss parents;
1942 — American composer Daniel Lentz, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania;

Deaths:
1832 — Italian pianist and composer Muzio Clementi, age 80, at Evesham, England;

Premieres:
1877 — Borodin's Symphony No. 2, in St. Petersburg, Russia;
1888 — Franck's symphonic poem "Psyché" in Paris.