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Archives Find past shows by date:  Complete archive
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April 6-12, 2009
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Monday, April 6
Composers as soloists: Beach and Schuller ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Amy Beach (1867-1944): Piano Concerto in c#, Op. 45 Joanne Polk, piano; English Chamber Orchestra; Paul Goodwin, cond. Arabesque 6738 & Gunther Schuller (b. 1925): Horn Concerto No. 1 Richard Todd, horn; Saarbrucken Radio Symphony; Gunther Schuller, cond. GM 2044 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Amy Beach A recent biography of Beach On Gunther Schuller ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1660—German composer and organist Johann Kuhnau, in Geising Erzgebirge; He was Bach's predecessor as cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig; 1672—Baptismal date of French composer André Cardinal Destouches, in Paris; 1815—German composer Friedrich Robert Volkman, in Lommatzsch, near Dresden; 1885—French-born American composer and harpist Carlos Salzedo, in Arcachon; 1887—Rumanian opera composer Nicolas Bretan, in Nasaud; 1921—American composer Andrew Imbrie, in New York City; 1929—Soviet composer Edison Denisov, in Tomak; His engineer father named him after Thomas Edison; 1929—German-born American composer, pianist and conductor, André Previn, in Berlin; Deaths: 1971—Russian-born American composer Igor Stravinsky, age 88, in New York City; Premieres: 1731 — Handel: opera "Rindalo" (2nd version), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: April 17); 1735 — Handel: Organ Concerto Op. 4, no. 5 (Julian date: March 26); 1797 — Beethoven: possible public premiere of the Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, at a Schuppanzig concert in Vienna; 1892 — Dvorak: Symphony No. 4 in d, in Prague; 1900 — Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in c#, by the Boston Symphony with Wilhelm Gericke conducting and the composer as soloist; 1945 — Randall Thompson: "The Testament of Freedom" (to texts by Thomas Jefferson) for men's chorus and orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; This was the first performance with orchestra; The world premiere (with piano accompaniment) had taken place at the University of Virginia on April 13, 1943; 1964 — Stravinsky: "Elegy for J.F.K.," in Los Angeles, conducted by Robert Craft; 1967 — Miklós Rózsa: Piano Concerto, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with Leonard Pennario as soloist.
Tuesday, April 7
Beethoven and Tavener for solemn occasions ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1828): 2nd Mvt, fr Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG 429 036 & John Tavener (b. 1944): Song for Athene Concordia Choir; Rene Clausen, cond. Concordia 2204 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Beethoven On John Tavener More on Tavener ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1726—British composer, music journalist and historian Charles Burney, in Shrewsbury; This date is according to the Julian "Old Style" calendar still in use in England that year; Under the Gregorian "New Style" calendar, this date would be April 18; 1763—Italian composer and double-bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, in Venice; 1899—French composer and pianist Robert Casadesus, in Paris; 1920—Indian composer and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, in Benares; Deaths: 1783—German composer Ignaz Holzbauer, age 71, in Mannheim; Premieres: 1713 — Handel: "Utrecht Te Deum," at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (Gregorian date: April 18); 1724 — Bach: "St. John Passion" performed on Good Friday at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig; 1745 — Handel: oratorio “Belshazzar” (Julian date: March 27); 1805 — first public performance of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with composer conducting; This symphony had been performed at least twice at private concerts arranged in late 1804 and early 1805; 1923 — Hahn: operetta "Ciboulette," in Paris at the Théâtre des Variétés; 1928 — Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 10, in Moscow; 1965 — Henze: opera "Der junge Lord" (The Young Lord), in West Berlin at the Deutsche Oper; 1994 — John Harbison: Cello Concerto, in Boston, with Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting; 2005 — Augusta Read Thomas: “Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour” for mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble, at the Columbia University’s Miller Theater in New York City. Other: 1863—American premiere of Mozart's Symphony No. 40, by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Theodore Thomas conducting; 1918—The German conductor of the Boston Symphony, Karl Muck, is arrested and interned as an enemy alien after American enters World War I.
Wednesday, April 8
A Bartok premiere (and patron) ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): String Quartet No. 5 Emerson String Quartet DG 423 657 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Bartok ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1533—Italian composer and publisher Claudio Merculo, in Correggio; 1692—Italian composer and violin virtuoso Giuseppe Tartini, in Pirano; 1881—Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (Gregorian date: April 20); Deaths: 1848—Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, age 50, in Bergamo; 1858—Austrian composer and publisher Anton Diabelli, age 76, in Vienna; 1920—American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes, age 35, in New York; 1937—American composer Arthur Foote, age 84, in Boston; Premieres: 1708 — Handel: oratorio "La Resurrezione" (The Resurrection), at the Bonelli Palace in Rome, with Arcangelo Corelli leading the orchestra; 1876 — Ponchielli: opera "La Gioconda," in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; 1894 — Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, in Graz, with Franz Schalk conducting his own much-edited and re-orchestrated version of Bruckner's score; The Schalk edition was subsequently published as the "official" version of the symphony; The composer's original version of this symphony was first performed in 1935 and published in 1936; 1927 — Varèse: "Arcana" for orchestra, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting; 1931 — Shostakovich: ballet "The Bolt," in Leningrad, at the Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet; 1935 — Bartók: String Quartet No.5, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, by the Kolisch Quartet; 1938 — Walter Piston: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting; 1949 — Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 ("The Age of Anxiety"), by the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevutzky, with composer as piano soloist; 1983 — Christopher Rouse: "Rotae Passionis" (Passion Wheels) for chamber ensemble, in Boston, by Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman conducting; 1985 — Michael Torke: "The Yellow Pages" for chamber quintet, at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., by the Yale Contemporary Players; 1989 — Libby Larsen: "Songs from Letters" (of Calamity Jane to her daughter), for soprano and orchestra, in New York, by soprano Mary Elizabeth Poorel 1999 — Bright Sheng: "Three Songs" for pipa and cello, at The White House in Washington, DC, by Wu Man (pipa) and Yo-Yo Ma (cello); Other: 1739 —London music publisher John Walsh the younger issues Handel's Trio Sonatas, Op. 5 (Julian date: Feb. 28); 1805—Haydn, age 73, gives his blessing to the late Wolfgang Mozart's 14-year old son, Franz Xaver Mozart, at the teenager's first public concert; 1865—American premiere of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertate in Eb, K. 364(320d) for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, in New York, with violinist Theodore Thomas and violist Georg Matzka (A review of this concert in the New York Times said: "On the whole we would prefer death to a repetition of this production. The wearisome scale passages on the little fiddle repeated ad nausea on the bigger one were simply maddening.”); 1886—Franz Liszt plays for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle; 1931—Abram Chasins: "Flirtation in a Chinese Garden" and "Parade" (orchestral versions of two of his "Three Chinese Pieces" for piano) become the first pieces of American music conducted by Arturo Toscanini as music director of the New York Philharmonic.
Thursday, April 9
Rubinstein rescues Manuel de Falla ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Manuel de Falla (1876-1946): Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Ritual Fire Dance Artur Rubinstein, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, cond. RCA/BMG 63070 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Manuel de Falla On Artur Rubinstein ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1717—Austrian composer Georg Matthias Monn, in Vienna; 1846—Italian-born British composer and vocal teacher Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti, in Ortona; 1887—American composer Florence Price, in Little Rock, Ark.; 1906—Hungarian-born American composer and conductor Antal Dorati, in Budapest; 1935—Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, in Salmi; Deaths: 1933 —German composer and organist Sigfrid Karg-Elert, age 55, in Leipzig; 1960—Australian composer and pianist Arthur Benjamin, age 66, in London; Premieres: 1903 — Frederick S. Converse: "Endymion's Narrative" for orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Wilhelm Gericke conducting; 1916 — de Falla: "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" for piano and orchestra, in Madrid; 1920 — Stenhammar: incidental music for Shakespeare's "As You Like It," at the Lorensberg Theater in Gothenburg, Sweden; 1926 — Varèse: "Amériques," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting; 1942 — Stravinsky: "Circus Polka" at Madison Square Gardens in New York, by the Barnum & Bailey Circus, with M. Evans conducting; 1948 — Barber: song-cycle "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" for voice and orchestra, by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting and soprano Eleanor Steber the soloist; 1959 — Benjamin Lees: "Prologue, Capriccio and Epilogue" for orchestra, in Portland, Ore.; 1967 — Ned Rorem: "Water Music"for clarinet, violin and orchestra, by the Youth Chamber Orchestra of Oakland, with Robert Hughes conducting and Larry London (clarinet) and Thomas Halpin (violin) the soloists; Other: 1870—Grieg writes a letter from Rome describing how Franz Liszt performed his Piano Concerto at sight and praised the work highly; 1938—American premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 by the NBC Symphony, Artur Rodzinski conducting; 1939—First lady Eleanor Roosevelt sponsors an Easter Sunday concert by Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial to protest racial discrimination after the singer is denied use of Washington's Constitution Hall (owned and administered by the Daughters of the American Revolution); Some 75,000 people attend this open-air event.
Friday, April 10
Antheil at Carnegie Hall ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: George Antheil (1900 - 1959): A Jazz Symphony Ivan Davis, piano; New Palaise Royale Ensemble; Maurice Peress, cond. MusicMasters 67094 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Antheil On Antheil’s “Ballet mechanique” ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1864—Scottish-born German composer and pianist Eugéne d'Albert, in Glasgow; 1892—Italian composer and conductor Victor de Sabata, in Trieste; Deaths: 1911—Lithuanian painter and composer Mikolajus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, age 35, in Pustelnik-Minski, near Warsaw (Julian date March 28); Premieres: 1868 — Brahms: "A German Requiem," at a Good Friday concert at Bremen Cathedral conducted by the composer; 1886 — Chabrier: opera "Gwendoline," in Brussels; 1913 — Montemezzi: opera "L'Amore dei tre re" (The Love Three Kings), in Milan at the Teatro della Scala, with Tullio Serafin conducting; 1919 — Fauré: "Masques et bergamasques" (Masks and Bergamascas), in Monte Carlo; 1927 — Antheil: "A Jazz Symphony," at Carnegie Hall in New York, by members of the W.C. Handy with the composer at the piano; 1935 — Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4, in London, by the BBC Symphony, Sir Adrian Boult conducting; 1936 — Carlos Chavez: "Sinfonia India," by the Boston Symphony with the composer conducting; 1963 — Poulenc: Clarinet Sonata, at Carnegie Hall (posthumously) with clarinetist Benny Goodman and pianist Leonard Bernstein; 1984 — Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: "Prologue and Variations" for strings, by the Chattanooga Symphony, Richard Cormier conducting; 1988 — Joan Tower: Clarinet Concerto, with soloist Charles Neidich and the American Symphony Orchestra, Jorge Mester conducting; 1992 — Michael Torke: "Music on the Floor," for chamber ensemble, in Milwaukee, Wisc., by the Present Music ensemble, Kevin Stalheim conducting; 1996 — Stanislaw Skrowaczewski: "Passacaglia Immaginaria," in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting. 2005 — Gabriela Lena Frank: “Ghosts in the Dream Machine” for piano quintet, in Philadelphia, by pianist Simone Dinnerstein and the Chiara Quartet.
Saturday, April 11
Piano Trios by Beethoven and Reale ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1828): Piano Trio in Bb, Op. 70, no. 2 (Archduke) Wilhelm Kempff, piano; Henryk Szeryng, violin; Pierre Fournier, cello DG 453 751 & Paul Reale (b. 1943): Finale, fr Piano Trio (1980) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Beethoven On Paul Reale ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1682—French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret, in Avignon; He achieved belated fame in American when one of his trumpet fanfares was used as the theme for public televisions's "Masterpiece Theater"; 1891—Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (Gregorian date: April 23); 1916—Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, in Buenos Aires; Premieres: 1689 — possible premiere of Purcell: opera "Dido and Aeneas,"in Chelsea (London) at Josias Priest's School for Young Ladies; This exact date and circumstance of this premiere is uncertain: April 30 th is also cited as a possibility (April 11, 1689 marked the coronation of the Protestant monarchs William and Mary, and April 30 th was Queen Mary's birthday); In any case, the premiere most likely occurred sometime before the libretto by Nahum Tate was published in December of 1689; 1727 — J.S. Bach: possible premiere of "St. Matthew Passion" (first version), at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig; 1814 — Beethoven: "Archduke" Piano Trio in Bb, Op. 97, at the Hotel "Zum Romischen Kaiser" in Vienna, with violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, cellist Joseph Linke, and the composer at the piano; This was the last time the Beethoven performed in public as a pianist; 1884 — d'Indy: symphonic poem "La Mort de Wallenstein" (Wallenstein's Death), in Paris; 1891 — Dvorák: "Dumky" Piano Trio, Op. 90, in Prague, at a concert celebrating Dvorák's honorary doctorate from Prague's Charles University, with Ferdinand Lachner (violin), Hanus Wihan (cello), and the composer at the piano; 1902 — Loeffler: "Two Poems"for orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Wilhelm Gericke conducting; 1920 — Respighi: "Ballata delle gnomidi" (Dance of the Gnomes) for orchestra, in Rome, Bernardino Molinari conducting; 1934 — Bloch: "Sacred Service," in New York City, by the Schola Cantorum, conducted by the composer; 1965 — David Amram: Passover opera "The Final Ingredient" is produced on television in New York City; 1967 — Hovhaness: "The Holy City" for orchestra, in Portland, Maine; 1999 — Augusta Read Thomas: "Passion Prayers" for solo cello and six instruments, in Philadelphia by the Network for New Music, with cellist Scott Kluksdahl; Other: 1770—Leopold and Wolgang Mozart attend a Holy Week service at St. Peter's in Rome and hear Allegri's "Miserere"performed by the Chapel Choir; The Vatican had jealously guarded Allegri's score as their exclusive property, and under threat of excommunication, the Vatican choir was forbidden to let the score be taken out of the Chapel, copied, or even seen by any outsider; That same evening, after one hearing, Wolfgang (age 14) transcribed the piece from memory; The Mozarts then returned to St. Peter's three days later to check Wolfgang's version against a repeat performance of Allegri's music; 1874—American premiere of Brahms' "Haydn Variations," by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, conducted by Theodore Thomas; 1888—The Concertgebouw opens in Amsterdam with a concert performed by a 700-piece ensemble; Later that year the famed Concertgebouw Orchestra was formed; 1902—Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his first 10 phonograph records for the Gramophone Typewriter Company in a room at the Grand Hotel in Milan; His last of his 498 phonograph recordings would be made in the Victor Studios in Camden, New Jersey on September 16, 1920; 1919—The New Symphony Orchestra, organized by composer Edgard Varèse for the performance of new music, gives its first concert in New York City; 1930—American premiere of staged version of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring," in Philadelphia, choreographed by Massine and conducted by Stokowski; 1941—Austrian-born composer Arnold Schönberg becomes an American citizen and officially changes the spelling of his name to Schoenberg.
Sunday, April 12
Castelnuovo-Tedesco in New York ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968): Violin Concerto No. 2 (The Prophets) Jascha Heifetz, violin; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Alfred Wallenstein, cond. RCA BMG 7872 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Castelnuovo-Tedesco More on Castelnuovo-Tedesco ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1772—Italian composer and violinist Pietro Nardini, in Livorno; 1801—Austrian composer and violinist Josef Lanner, in Vienna; 1932—Bulgarian-born American composer Henri Lazarof, in Sofia; Deaths: 1814—British composer, music journalist and historian Charles Burney, age 88, in Chelsea; Premieres: 1735 — Handel: Organ Concertos Op. 4, no. 4. (Julian date: April 1); 1747 — Handel: oratorio "Judas Maccabaeus" (Julian date: April 1); 1826 — Weber: opera "Oberon," in London at Covent Garden, conducted by the composer; 1867 — Offenbach: operetta "Le Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein" (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein), in Paris; 1892 — Loeffler: 2nd 3rd mvts, fr String Quartet in A minor, at Boston's Union Hall by the Adamowski Quartet; The same ensemble had premiered the 2nd mvt of this four-movement Quartet in Philadelphia during the 1889-90 season, that performance being the first public performance of any of Loeffler's compositions; 1907 — Henry Hadley: tone poem "Salome" (after Oscar Wilde), by the Boston Symphony, Karl Muck conducting; 1930 — Janácek: opera "From the House of the Dead," in Brno at the National Theater; The score for this performance was extensively reorchestrated by two pupils of Janácek; More recent performances have used editions prepared by Rafael Kubelik or Charles Mackerras which are closer to Janácek's original score; 1933 — Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Violin Concerto No. 2 ("The Prophets"), at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic, with Arturo Toscanini conducting and Jascha Heifetz as soloist; 1957 — Wallingford Riegger: Symphony No. 4, at the University of Illinois, Urbana; 1978 — Ligeti: opera "La Grand Macabre," in Stockholm at the Royal Opera; 1995 — John Williams: "Bassoon Concerto ("The Five Sacred Trees"), by Judith LeClair and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Kurt Masur; Other: 1877—American premiere of Verdi's opera "Don Carlos" in New York City. |
