Barber borrows an idea from Beethoven

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Violin Concerto, Op. 61 Hilary Hahn, violin; Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond Sony 60584

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) Violin Concerto, Op. 14 Hilary Hahn, violin; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, cond. Sony 89029

On This Day

Births

• 1871 - Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar, in Stockholm;

• 1883 - American jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, in Baltimore;

• 1897 - American composer Quincy Porter, in New Haven, Conn.;

• 1925 - Rumanian-born French composer Marius Constant, in Bucharest;

Deaths

• 1652 - Italian composer and Papal Chapel singer Gregorio Allegri, age .c 70, in Rome;

• 1779 - English composer and organist William Boyce, age 67, in Kensington;

Premieres

• 1733 - Handel: opera “Orlando” in London (Julian date: Jan.27);

• 1786 - Mozart: opera "Der Schauspieldirektor" (The Impressario), in Vienna at the Orangerie at Schönbrunn;

• 1792 - Cimarosa: opera "Il Matrimonio segreto" (The Secret Marriage), in Vienna at the Burgtheater;

• 1873 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (“Little Russian”), in Moscow (Julian date: Jan. 26);

• 1875 - Lalo: "Symphonie espagnole" for Violin and Orchestra, in Paris, Edouard Colonne conducting, with Pablo de Sarasate the soloist;

• 1882 - Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Jan.26);

• 1893 - Brahms: Capriccio in d, No. 7 from "Fantasies" for Piano, Op. 116, in Vienna;

• 1908 - Chadwick: "Symphonic Sketches," by the Boston Symphony, with Karl Muck conducting;

• 1907 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh,” in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 20);

• 1922 - Stenhammar: incidental music for Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," at the Lorensberg Theater in Gothenburg, Sweden;

• 1931 - Deems Taylor: opera "Peter Ibbetson" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York;

• 1941 - first public performance of Barber: Violin Concerto, by Philadelphia Orchestra, with Eugene Ormandy conducting and Albert Spalding the soloist;

• 1941 - Hindemith: Cello Concerto, Op. 7, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting with Gregor Piatigorsky the soloist;

• 1953 - Martinu: "The Marriage," one-act opera (after Gogol) on the NBC TV network; One of the earliest operas specifically written for television, it is nowadays all but forgotten;

• 1957 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 7 (arr. Bogatiiryov), in Moscow; This arrangement uses sketches for Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3 and for another unfinished work for piano and orchestra as the basis for a "new" symphonic work by the late composer;

• 1964 - Sessions: Symphony No. 5, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1988 - Tan Dun: "Out of Peking Opera" for violin and orchestra, at Lincoln Center, with soloist Vera Weiling Tsu and the New York City Symphony, David Eaton conducting;

• 1996 - Zwilich: Triple Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Zdenek Macal conducting, with the Kalichstein/Laredo/Robinson Trio as the soloists;

Others

• 1973 - On his 90th birthday, Jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, the son of former slaves, is honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).