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Archives Find past shows by date:  Complete archive
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August 11-17, 2008
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Monday, August 11
Telemann finesses his contract ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767): Don Quichotte Suite Camerata of St. Andrew; Leonard Friedman, cond. Omega 1006 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A Timeline of Telemann’s life More on Telemann ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1900—Soviet composer Alexander Mossolov, in Kiev (Julian date: July 29); 1929—Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott, in Bargoed (Wales); Deaths: 1949—Austrian composer Karl Weigl, age 68, in New York City; Premieres: 1943 — R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 2, at the Salzburg Festival by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Böhm, with Gottfried von Freiburg, the principal horn of the orchestra, as soloist; 1955 — Bernstein: "On the Waterfront" Symphonic Suite, at Tanglewood by the Boston Symphony conducted by the composer; 1955 — Avery Claflin: madrigal "A Lament for April 15" (to an IRS text describing how to file an income tax return), at the Berkshire Center in Tanglewood, Mass.; 1957 — Hindemith: opera, "The Harmony of the World," in Munich, with the composer conducting; 1968 — Milhaud: "Music for New Orleans" at the Aspen Festival in Colorado; This work was commissioned originally to celebrate the 250th anniversary of New Orleans in 1966, but was rejected by the anniversary committee as unfit for the occasion; 1984 — Rachmaninoff: opera "Monna Vanna" (Act 1 only, orchestrated by Buketoff), posthumously, as a concert performance in Saratoga, N.Y.; Rachmaninoff left this work unfinished in 1907; 1985 — Han Werner Henze realization of Monteverdi's opera "Il ritorno d'Ulisse" (The Return of Ulysses) at the Salzburg Festival; 2003 — Judith Weir: "The Voice of Desire" for voice and piano, at an afternoon BBC Proms concert at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote and pianist Julius Drake; 2003 — O'Connor: Violin Concerto No. 6 ("Old Brass"), at an evening BBC Proms concert at Royal Albert Hall in London, with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Kenneth Sillito and the composer as soloist; Other: 1922—Founding of the International Society for Contemporary Music in after a Festival of Contemporary Music in Salzburg, Austria (with the Society's central office to be located in London).
Tuesday, August 12
Edison, for the record ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Antonin Dvořák (1841 - 1904) arr. Kreisler: Songs My Mother Taught Me Fritz Kreisler, violin Pearl 9324 & George Frederic Handel (1685 – 1757): excerpt, fr Judas Maccabeus Edward Lloyd, tenor Koch Historic 7703 & Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897): plays on an Edison cylinder (r. 1889) Johannes Brahms, p. Pearl 99049 & Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897): Hungarian Dance No. 1 Idil Biret, piano Naxos 8.550355 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Latest research on the 1889 Brahms recording A History of the Edison cylinder and selected audio files ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1644—Bohemian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Von Biber, in Wartenburg (now Straz pod Ralskem) near Reichenberg (now Liberec); Deaths: 1612—Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, age c. 55 (his exact birthdate is uncertain), in Venice; 1928—Czech composer Leos Janácek, age 74, in Ostrava; 1992—American composer John Cage, age 79, in New York; Premieres: 1845 — Verdi: opera "Alzira," in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo; 1964 — David Del Tredici: "I Hear an Army" for soprano and string quartet (based on a poem by James Joyce) at Tangelwood Festival in Massachusetts; 1964 — Panufnik: "Sinfonia Sacra," in Monaco, as the prize-winning work in an international competition sponsored by Prince Rainer III 1984 — Berio: opera "Un Re in ascolto" (A King Listening), at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Lorin Maazel 2001 — Esa-Pekka Salonen: "Foreign Bodies," at the Schlewswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, with the Finnish Radio Symphony conducted by Esa-Pekka Saraste; Other: 1845—A statute of Beethoven is unveiled in Bonn, Germany, the composer's birthplace; Ludwig Spohr conducts a performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" at the Bonn cathedral; Liszt had been instrumental in raising funds for the statue, and was present, as was Hector Berlioz, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain, and the King and Queen of Prussia; 1877—Frequently listed (and almost certainly incorrect) date on which the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison recorded his own voice reciting, “Mary had a little lamb” on a tin-foil cylinder phonograph of his own design; Edison filed the patent for his new invention on December 24, and it was granted on February 19, 1878; In London in April of 1888, Edison’s phonograph would record excerpts from a live Crystal Palace performance of Handel’s oratorio, “Israel in Egypt”; On December 2, 1889, Theo Wangemann, a representative of Thomas Edison recorded Johannes Brahms playing the piano in Vienna. The latest research suggests the voice introducing this famous recording is probably that of Wangemann, not Brahms himself, as was earlier thought; 1922—First live broadcast concert of the New York Philharmonic over New York radio station WJZ; The concert was broadcast from Lewisohn Stadium during the orchestra's summer series, and included music by Dvorák, Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, Rimksy-Korsakov, Brahms, and Gluck. The conductor was Willem van Hoogstraten, the orchestra's regular summer-event director; On October 5, 1930, the New York Philharmonic began its regular weekly series of Sunday afternoon national broadcasts over the Columbia radio network
Wednesday, August 13
Of Wagner, Tubas, and Gyorgy Kurtag ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Győrgy Kurtág (b. 1926): Stele, op. 33 SWR Symphony; Michael Gielen, cond. Hänssler 93001 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On the Wagner tuba On Győrgy Kurtág An essay on Kurtág ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1879—English composer John Ireland, in Inglewood (Bowdon), Cheshire; Deaths: 1912—French opera composer Jules Massenet, age 70, in Paris; Premieres: 1841 — R. Schumann: "Concert Fantasy" for Piano and Orchestra, at a closed rehearsal of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felik Mendelssohn, with Clara Schumann (8 and 1/2 months pregnant) as the soloist; This "Concert Fantasy" was revised as the first movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto in a, Op. 54, which Clara Schumann premiered in Dresden on December 4, 1845 at a concert conducted by Ferdinand Hiller; 1876 — First complete performance of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle begins at Bayreuth with a performance of "Das Rheingold" (this opera had received its premiere performance in Munich on Sept. 22, 1869); 1964 — Mahler: Symphony No. 10, arranged for performance by the English musicologist Deryck Cooke, is performed complete for the first time by the London Symphony conducted by Berthold Goldschmidt; With the assistance of Colin and David Matthews, Cooke revised his performing edition of Mahler's Tenth, and this revised version - known as "Cooke II" - was first performed on October 15, 1972, by the New Philharmonia under Wyn Morris; 1973 — Thea Musgrave: Viola Concerto at a London Proms Concert, with her husband, Peter Mark, the soloist; 1976 — Duke Ellington: ballet "Three Black Kings" (posthumously), at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Duke Ellington Orchesttra conducted by Mercer Ellington.
Thursday, August 14
A posthumous premiere for Richard Strauss ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949): Die Liebe der Danae (Symphonic Fragment), Op. 83 Toronto Symphony; Andrew Davis, cond. CBS 45804 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Richard Strauss More on Strauss ALSO ON THIS DATE: 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; Other: 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)
Friday, August 15
Leon Theremin's good vibrations ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Bernard Herrmann (1911 – 1975): The Day the Earth Stood Still National Philharmonic; Bernard Herrmann, cond. London 443 899 & Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971): Berceuse, fr The Firebird Clara Rockmore, theremin; Nadia Reisenberg, piano Delos 1014 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Leon Theremin and the Theremin More on the Theremin ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1875—English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, in London; His father was from Sierra Leone and his mother English; He composed a very successful trilogy of oratorios based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Hiawatha": "The Song of Hiawatha" (1898), "The Death of Minnehaha" (1899) and "Hiawatha's Departure" (1900); 1890—French composer Jacques Ibert, in Paris; 1896—Russian inventor Lev Sergeivitch Termen (anglicized to Leon Theremin) in St. Petersburg (Julian date: August 3); He invented the theremin, an electronic instrument whose sound was used or imitated in a number of film scores (“Spellbound,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, etc.) and in the Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations” 1922—German-born American composer and conductor Lukas Foss, in Berlin (presumed date; Foss says his birth year is not authenticated and he has no birth certificate); Deaths: 1728—French composer and gamba virtuoso Marain Marais, age 72, in Paris; 1985—American composer Richard Yardumian, age 68, in Bryn Athyn, Pa.; Premieres: 1865 — Liszt: oratorio, "St. Elizabeth," in Pest, Hungary; 1935 — Grofé: "Hollywood" Suite, at the Hollywood Bowl; 1986 — Penderecki: opera "The Black Mask," at the Salzburg Festival in Austria; 2000 — Saariaho: opera "L'amour de loin," at the Salzburg Festival in Austria, with a cast including Dawn Upshaw, Dwayne Croft, and Dagmar Peckova; and Kent Nagano conducting the Southwest German Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden; Other: 1772—Johannes Nepomuk Maelzel, German inventor credited with the creation of the metronome, is born in Regensburg; For a time he was the friend of Beethoven and collaborated with him on various projects; 1969—The three-day Woodstock Music and Arts Fair begins in Bethel, fifty miles south of Woodstock, N.Y., attended by nearly half a million rock 'n' roll enthusiasts.
Saturday, August 16
Gershwin and Daugherty go Latin ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: George Gershwin (1898 – 1937): Cuban Overture New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, cond. Teldec 46318 & Michael Daugherty (b. 1954): Desi! Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond. Argo 444 454 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On George Gershwin On Michael Daugherty ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1795—German opera composer Heinrich August Marschner, in Saxony; 1863—French composer, conductor and organist Gabriel Pierné, in Metz; 1929—American jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans, in Plainsfield, N.J.; Deaths: 1914—Russian composer Anatol Liadov (Gregorian date: August 28); 1977—Rock superstar Elvis Presley, age 42, in Memphis, Tennessee; Premieres: 1876 — First complete performance of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle continues at Bayreuth with the world premiere performance of "Siegfried"; 1932 — Gershwin: "Cuban Overture" (under the title "Rumba"), by the New York Philharmonic at a Lewisohn Stadium concert conducted by Albert Coates; 1936 — R. Strauss: "Olympic Hymn" at the opening of the Olympiad in Berlin; 1944 — R. Strauss: opera "Die Liebe der Danae" (The Love of Danae), in a dress rehearsal performance in Salzburg at the Festspielhaus; The premiere was cancelled due to the closing of all German theaters and the declaration of "total war"; The belated premiere occurred on August 14, 1952, during the Salzburg Festival; 1961 — Kodály: Symphony (dedicated to the memory of Arturo Toscanini), at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland; 1973 — Bernstein: "Dybbuk Variations," in Auckland, New Zealand, conducted by the composer; Bernstein's ballet, "Dybbuk," choreographed by Jerome Robbins, had premiered at the New York City Ballet on May 16, 1973; 1995 — Michael Torke: "July" for saxophone quartet, at Cardiff Bay by the Apollo Saxophone Quartet; 2001 — Lowell Liebermann: Violin Concerto, at Saratoga Arts Center, N.Y., by soloist Chantal Juillet and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conducting; 2001 — Kaija Saariaho: "Nymphea Reflection," at the Schlewswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, by Sinfonietta Cracova, Axelrod conducting; Other: 1613—Claudio Monteverdi becomes Master of Music, Republic of Venice; 1814—Beethoven finishes composing the Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90; 1943 —La Scala Opera house in Milan, Italy, damaged by Allied bombers.
Sunday, August 17
Frederick the Great, composer ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712 – 1786): Flute Concerto No. 3 Patrick Gallois, flute; CPE Bach Chamber Orchestra; Peter Schreier, cond. DG 439 895 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Frederick as a composer (and flute player) ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1903—American composer and pianist Abram Chasins, in New York City; 1928—American composer T.J. (Thomas Jefferson) Anderson, in Coatesville, Pa.; 1943—English composer Edward Cowie, in Birmingham; Deaths: 1786—Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, flute player and amateur composer, age 74, in Potsdam; 1958—French composer Florent Schmitt, age 87, in Neuilly-sur-Seine; 1961—French-born American composer and harpist Carlos Salzedo, age 76, in Waterville, Maine; 1973—French composer Jean Barraque, in Paris; 1981—American composer Robert Russell Bennett, age 87, in New York City; 1983—American lyricist Ira Gershwin, age 86, in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Premieres: 1876 — First complete performance of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle concludes at Bayreuth with a performance of "Götterdämmerung" (The Twilight of the Gods); 1937 — John Ireland: "A London Overture" at a Proms Concert conducted by Sir Henry Wood; 1946 — Honegger: "Symphonie Liturgique" (No. 3) in Zürich, conducted by Charles Munch, to whom the work is dedicated; 1953 — von Einem: opera "Der Prozess" (The Trial), at the Salzburg Festival in Austria; This opera is based on the novel by Franz Kafka; 1955 — Werner Egk: opera "Irische Legende" (Irish Legend), at the Salzburg Festival in Austria; 1974 — Penderecki: "Magnificat," for bass solo, chorus, and orchestra, in Salzburg, Austria; Other: 1928—Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg wins $10,000 Schubert Centenary Prize offered by Columbia Phonograph Company of New York for his Symphony in C; 1957—During lecture at the Tanglewood Festival, American composer Gunther Schuller coins the phrase "third stream" to describe a type of composition in which elements of jazz are organized within a classical musical structure. |
