Bruckner thinks big

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) Symphony No. 8 London Philharmonic; Klaus Tennstedt, cond. EMI 64849

On This Day

Births

• 1860 - American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1869 - American composer and piano virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk, age 40, in Tijuca (near Rio de Janerio);

• 1919 - American composer and teacher, Horatio William Parker, age 56, in Cedarhurst, N.Y.; He became chairman of the Yale music department in 1894, where he taught the young Charles Ives;

Premieres

• 1795 - possible premiere of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15 (or less likely, his Concerto No. 2 in Bb), in Vienna at a concert organized by Haydn to perform three of his "London" Symphonies in that city;

• 1880 - Tchaikovsky: "Capriccio italien," in Moscow, Nikolai Rubinstein conducting (Julian date: Dec. 6);

• 1892 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 8, with Vienna Philharmonic, Hans Richter conducting; This performance used a revised and cut version of Bruckner's original 1887 score prepared by the composer and his pupil Franz Schalk in 1889-90; The original 1887 score was first performed in 1973 by the Bournemouth Symphony for a BBC broadcast conducted by Hans-Hubert Schönzeler; The edition prepared by Robert Haas, which is based on the 1889-90 revised version but with the cuts restored, is the version most often performed today;

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: ballet, "The Nutcracker," and opera "Iolanta," at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Dec. 6);

• 1911 - Rachmaninoff: 13 Piano Preludes, Op. 32, in St. Petersburg, by the composer (Julian date: Dec. 5);

• 1924 - Bliss: Concerto for Two Pianos, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzsky conducting;

• 1926 - Janácek: opera "The Makropoulos Case," in Brno at the National Theater;

• 1929 - Webern: Symphony for Chamber Orchestra, in New York City;

• 1941 - Milhaud: Piano Concero No. 2, in Chicago, with the composer as soloist;

• 1962 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 ("Babi Yar"), by the Moscow Philharmonic, with basso Vitaliy Gromadsky, and the bass voices of the Republican State and Gnesin Institute Choirs, Kirill Kondrashin conducting;

• 1964 - Creston: Concerto for Koto and Orchestra, by Kimio Eto (Koto soloist), with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting;

• 1994 - Morten Lauridsen: “O Magnum Mysterium” for chorus, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich conducting;

• 1999 - André Previn: "Three Dickinson Songs," in Quebec, Canada, by soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Richard Bado;

Others

• 1732 - John Rich opens his "Theatre Royal, Covent Garden" in London (Julian date: Dec. 7).