Composers Datebook®

Corigliano reconjures his "Ghosts"

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

John Corigliano (b. 1938) Phantasmagoria Yo Yo Ma, cello; Emanuel Ax, piano Sony 60747

On This Day

Births

  • 1935 - American composer Gordon Muma, in Framingham, Mass.;

Deaths

  • 1764 - Italian composer Pietro Locatelli, age 68, in Amsterdam;

Premieres

  • 1725 - Bach: "St. John Passion" (S. 245, second version) performed at Vespers on Good Friday as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25); The first version had premiered on Good Friday in 1724 (April 7);

  • 1881 - R. Strauss: Symphony in d, in Munich, with Hermann Levi; This was Strauss' first major orchestral work;

  • 1951 - Piston: Symphony No. 4, by the Minneapolis Symphony, Antal Dorati conducting;

  • 2000 - Corigliano: "Phantasmagoria" (Suite from the opera "The Ghosts of Versailles"), in Minneapolis, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero conducting.

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About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

About Composers Datebook®