Otto Klemperer, composer

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973) Symphony No. 2 New Philharmonia Orchestra/; Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI 64147

Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973) A Merry Waltz Philharmonia Orchestra; Otto Klepmerer, cond. EMI 63917

On This Day

Births

• 1885 - German conductor and composer, Otto Klemperer, in Breslau;

• 1917 - American composer Lou Harrison, in Portland, Ore.;

Deaths

• 1847 - German composer Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, age 41, in Berlin; She was the sister of Felix Mendelssohn;

Premieres

• 1723 - Handel: opera "Flavio, re de' Langobardi" (Flavio, King of the Langobards), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: May 25);

• 1832 - Mendelssohn: "Hebrides" Overture ("Fingal's Cave"), in London, conducted by the composer;

• 1914 - R. Strauss: ballet "Josephslegende," in Paris;

• 1919 - Debussy: Saxophone Rhapsody (orchestral version by Roger-Ducasse), at a Société Nationale de Musique concert conducted by André Caplet at the Salle Gaveau in Paris;

• 1923 - Holst: "The Perfect Fool," in London at Covent Garden Opera House;

• 1941 - Cage: "Third Construction" for four percussionists, in San Francisco;

• 1942 - Copland: "Lincoln Portrait," by the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by André Kostelanetz, with William Adams the narrator;

• 1953 - American premiere of Stravinsky's opera, "The Rake's Progress," at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with the composer conducting; The world premiere performance occurred on September 11, 1951, in Venice, again with the composer conducting;

• 1966 - Ginastera: "Concerto per Corde," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1986 - Rautavaara: Symphony No. 5, in Helsinki, by Finnish Radio Symphony, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting;

• 1987 - Alvin Singleton: "Shadows" for orchestra. By the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw conducting;

• 1992 - James MacMillan: "Sinfonietta" at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, by the London Sinfonietta, Martyn Brabbins conducting;

• 1993 - Philip Glass: opera "Orphée" (based on the Jean Cocteau film), by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass.;

Others

• 1719 - Handel is commanded by the Lord Chamberlain (Thomas Holles, Duke of Newcastle), to hire singers for the recently established Royal Academy of Music's productions of Italian operas (Gregorian date: May 25);

• 1974 - Final London concert performance by conductor Leopold Stokowski, age 92 conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall: The program was Symphony No. 4 by Brahms, the "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Vaughan Williams, the "Merry Waltz" by Otto Klemperer, and the "Rapsodie espagnole" by Ravel; This was not Stokowski's "final" concert appearance, however; He was on the podium again in Venice in July of that year, and continued to make studio recordings; He died on September 13, 1977, at the age of 95 in his house in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England;