Oscar Straus

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Oscar Straus (1870 –1954) La Ronde Waltz Budapest Strauss Symphony; Alfred Walter, cond. Marco Polo 8.223596

On This Day

Births

• 1856 - Norwegian composer Christian Sinding, in Kongsberg;

• 1875 - Russian composer Reinhold Glière, in Kiev, Ukraine (Julian date: Dec. 30, 1874);

• 1902 - French composer and organist Maurice Duruflé, in Louviers;

• 1944 - German composer York Höller, in Leverkusen;

Deaths

• 1801 - Italian composer Domenico Cimarosa, age 51, in Venice;

• 1901 - Russian composer Vassili Sergeievitch Kalinnikov, age 34, in Yalta (Julian date: Dec. 29, 1900);

• 1954 - Austrian composer Oscar Straus, age 83, in Bad Ischl;

Premieres

• 1754 - Rameau: opera "Castor and Pollux" (2nd version), in Paris at the Palais Royal Opéra;

• 1895 - Brahms: Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120, no. 1 (first public performance), in Vienna, by clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, with the composer at the piano, as part of the Rosé Quartet's chamber music series; The first performance ever of this work occurred on September 19, 1894, at a private performance in the home of the sister of the Duke of Meiningen at Berchtesgaden, with the same performers; Brahms and Mühlfeld also gave private performances of both sonatas in Frankfurt (for Clara Schumann and others) on November 10-13, 1894; at Castle Altenstein (for the Duke of Meiningen) on Nov. 14, 1894; and on Jan. 7, 1895 (for members of the Vienna Tonkünstler Society);

• 1906 - Rachmaninoff: two one-act operas "The Miserly Knight" and "Francesca da Rimini" in Moscow (Gregorian date: Jan. 24);

• 1925 - Copland: Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, at Aeolian Hall in New York City by New York Symphony conducted by Walter Damrosch, with Nadia Boulanger the soloist;

• 1940 - Prokofiev: ballet, "Romeo and Juliet," in Leningrad;

• 1968 - Shchedrin: "Chimes" by the New York Philharmonic;

• 1976 - Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Pacific Overtures";

• 1992 - John Harbison: song "The Flute of Interior Time" (text by Kabir, translated by Robert Bly), at the Shauspielhaus in Berlin, by baritone William Parker and pianist Allan Marks; This song became part of "The AIDS-Quilt Songbook" compiled by the late William Parker;

• 1997 - Henze: opera "Venus and Adonis," in Munich at the Bavarian State Opera;

• 2001 - American premiere of John Adams: oratorio "El Niño" at Davies Hall, San Francisco with Kent Nagano conducting the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the Piedmont Children's Choir and the same soloists as the Paris world premiere performance at. Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris on December 15, 2000.

Others

• 1946 - German composer Paul Hindemith becomes a U.S. citizen.