Bright Sheng says: "What's in a name"

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Bright Sheng (b. 1955) Postcards Singapore Symphony; Lan Shui, cond. BIS 1122

On This Day

Births

• 1550 - Baptism of Italian composer Orazio Vecchi, in Modena;

• 1920 - American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, in Concord, Calif.;

• 1933 - Polish composer Henryk Górecki, in Czernica;

• 1955 - Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, in Shanghai;

Premieres

• 1841 - R. Schumann: Symphony No. 4 (as his Symphony No. 2), by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Ferdinand David conducting; Schumann withdrew the score, revised it, and reintroduced it in 1853 with the Düsseldorf Municipal Orchestra as his Symphony No. 4 (his "other" Symphony No. 2 and a Symphony No. 3 have been premiered in the meantime);

• 1842 - Schumann: Piano Quintet in Eb, Op. 44, at a private concert in the Leipzig home of Carl and Heinrich Voigt; Schumann’s wife, Clara, was to perform, but took ill, and Felix Mendelssohn stepped in for the informal performance, reading the work at sight; Mendelssohn’s critic of the work’s original second movement led Schumann to write a livelier replacement (see also Dec. 8, 1844);

• 1846 - Berlioz: dramatic legend, "The Damnation of Faust," at the Paris Opéra-Comique, with the composer conducting;

• 1876 - Tchaikovsky: opera "Vakula the Blacksmith," at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Nov. 24);

• 1880 - Tchaikovsky: "Capriccio italien," in Moscow (Gregorian date: Dec. 18);

• 1890 - Berlioz: opera "La Prise de Troie" (The Capture of Troy), Acts 1 & 2 of "Les Troyens" (The Trojans), first staged performance in Karlsruhe, Germany at the Hoftheater;

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: ballet, "The Nutcracker" and opera "Iolanta," in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 18);

• 1919 - Stravinsky: symphonic suite, "Le chant du rossignol," in Geneva, Ernest Ansermet conducting;

• 1929 - Stravinsky: "Capriccio" for Piano and Orchestra, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with the Paris Symphony conducted by Ernest Ansermet, with the composer as soloist;

• 1937 - Boris Blacher: "Concertante Musik," in Berlin;

• 1940 - Schoenberg: Violin Concerto, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski, with Louis Krasner the soloist;

• 1949 - Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, Op. 119, at a private performance in Moscow, at the House of the Union of Composers, by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Sviatoslav Richter; This first public performance, with the same artists, took place at the Moscow Conservatory on March 1, 1950;

• 1957 - Sessions: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting;

• 1974 - Wuorinen: Piano Concerto No. 2, in New York, with the composer as soloist on an amplified piano;

• 1977 - Corigliano: Clarinet Concerto, in New York;

• 1997 - Kernis: "Ecstatic Meditations," in Minneapolis, by the Plymouth Music Series, Philip Brunelle, conducting;

Others

• 1786 - Mozart finishes his Symphony No. 38 in D, K.504 "Prague";