Wagner in London

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Wagner (arr. De Vlieger) (1813 – 1881) Ring des Nibelungen Suite Netherlands Radio Philharmonic; Edo de Waart, cond. Fidelio 9201

On This Day

Births

• 1616 - Baptismal date of German composer and organist Johann Jacob Froberger, in Stuttgart;

Deaths

• 1935 - American composer Charles Martin Loeffler, age 74, in Medfield, Mass.;

• 1954 - American composer and insurance executive Charles Ives, age 79, in New York;

• 2009 - British composer Nicholas Maw, age 73, in Washington, D.C.;

Premieres

• 1842 - Donizetti: opera "Linda di Chamounix," in Vienna;

• 1886 - Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 ("Organ"), in London;

• 1911 - Ravel: "L'Heure espagnole" (Spanish Hour), in Paris at the Opèra Comique;

• 1915 - Stravinsky: Three Pieces for string quartet, in Paris;

• 1932 - Shostakovich: incidental music for Shakespeare's "Hamlet," in Moscow at the Vakhtangov Theater;

• 1939 - Cowell: "Return" for 3 percussionists and wailer, at the Cornish School in Seattle, by John Cage and his Percussion Group;

• 1942 - Cage: music for the radio play "The City Wears a Slouch Hat" (text by poet Kenneth Patchen), broadcast in Chicago;

• 2000 - Robert X. Rodriguez: "The Last Night of Don Juan" for chorus and orchestra, by the San Antonio Symphony and chorus, Wilkins conducting;

• 2002 - William Bolcom: "Seventh Symphony (A Symphonic Concerto)," at Carnegie Hall in New York, by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine conducting.

Others

• 1886 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (11 selections), during the May Festival in Cincinnati, conducted by Theodore Thomas; The next documented performance (12 sections) was given in Boston on February 27, 1887, by the Handel and Haydn Society, with Carl Zerrahn conducting a chorus of 432 and an orchestra of 50; In both the 1886 Cincinnati and 1887 Boston performances, the famous 19-century German soprano Lilli Lehmann appeared as one of the soprano soloists; The first complete performance of the work was apparently given either at the Moravian Church in Bethlehem on Mar 17, 1900, by the Bach Choir under J. Fred Wolf, or at Carnegie Hall in new York on April 5, 1900, by the Oratorio Society, Frank Damrosch conducting.