Orchestral openings and closings

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881) Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel) Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, cond. Reference 79

Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1808) Symphony No. 104 Philharmonia Hungarica; Antal Dorati, cond. London 425 935

On This Day

Births

• 1658 - Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Torelli, in Verona;

• 1858 - British composer and women's rights advocate Dame Ethel Smyth, in Rectory;

• 1922 - American composer and jazz bassist Charles Mingus, in Nogales, Ariz.;

• 1932 - American composer Michael Colgrass, in Chicago;

Deaths

• 1892 - French composer Edouard Lalo, age 69, in Paris;

• 1925 - French composer André Caplet, age 46, in Paris;

• 2001 - American composer, pianist and author Robert Starer, age 77, in Woodstock, N.Y.;

Premieres

• 1749 - Rameau: opera-ballet "Naïs," in Paris;

• 1885 - Dvorák: Symphony No. 7, in London, with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by the composer;

• 1904 - Chadwick: "Euterpe" overture, by the Boston Symphony with the composer conducting;

• 1912 - Dukas: ballet "La Péri," in Paris;

• 1927 - Roger Sessions: Symphony (No. 1) in e, by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1938 - Leo Sowerby: Organ Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1939 - Menotti: opera "The Old Man and the Thief," in New York City as a NBC radio broadcast; The first staged performance took place in Philadelphia on February 11, 1941;

• 1944 - Harry Partch: "Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing," at the chamber concert room at Carnegie Hall;

• 1961 - Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 1, in Washington, D.C.;

• 1969 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Eight Songs for a Mad King," in London;

• 1975 - Andrew Lloyd-Webber: musical "Jeeves" (book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn), in London; An almost totally revised version of this musical, retitled "By Jeeves,: opened in London on July 2, 1996;

• 1999 - Harbison: "Four Psalms," by vocal soloists Lisa Affer, Lorraine Hunt, Frank Kelley, and James Maddalena, with the Chicago Symphony and Chorus, Christoph Eschenbach conducting;

Others

• 1723 - J.S. Bach is elected cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig;

• 1853 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "Leonore"Overture No. 2, at Niblo's Rooms in New York City, by the New York Philharmonic, Theodore Eisfeld conducting;

• 1869 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "King Stephen"Oveture (Op. 117), at the Academy of Music in New York, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra;

• 1876 - American premiere of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture, by the New York Philharmonic, George Matzka conducting;

• 1921 - In Paris, the first of the "Koussevitzky Concerts" organized and conducted by the wealthy Russian emigree conductor and music patron, Serge Koussevitzky;

• 2001 - Philharmonic Hungarica gives its final concert in Düsseldorf; The orchestra was founded by Hungarian musicians who fled to West Germany after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956; For London/Decca Records the Philharmonic Hungarica made the first complete set of all of Haydn's symphonies under the baton of its honorary president, the Hungarian-American conductor Antal Dorati.