Beethoven in Boston

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) Symphony No. 5 Royal Philharmonic; Rene Leibowitz, cond. Chesky 17

Charles Ives (1874 – 1954) Sonata No. 2 (Concord, Mass., 1840 – 1860) Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano New World 378

On This Day

Births

• 1908 - Canadian composer and pianist Jean Coulthard, in Vancouver;

• 1929 - American film score composer Jerry Goldsmith;

• 1939 - American composer Barbara Kolb, in Hartford, Conn.;

Premieres

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio “Semele,” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 21);

• 1749 - Handel: oratorio “Susanna” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 21);

• 1794 - Haydn: Symphony No. 99, conducted by the composer, at the King's Theatre in London;

• 1812 - Beethoven: public premieres of "The Ruins of Athens" and "King Stephen" Overture and Incidental Music, as part of a production at the opening of a new theater in Pest, Hungary (see also Feb. 9);

• 1860 - Brahms: Serenade No. 2 in A, Op. 16, in Hamburg, with the composer conducting;

• 1878 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Feb. 22);

• 1881 - Offenbach: opera "The Tales of Hoffmann," posthumously, in Paris at the Opéra Comique;

• 1882 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “The Snow Maiden” (first version), in St. Petersburg, Napravnik conducting (Julian date: Jan. 29);

• 1896 - Walter Damrosch: opera "The Scarlet Letter," in Boston;

• 1903 - Rachmaninoff: Piano Preludes Nos. 1, 2, and 5, from Op. 23 and “Variations on a Theme of Chopin” (Gregorian date: Feb. 23);

• 1927 - Krenek: "jazz" opera "Jonny spielt auf" (Johnny Strikes Up the Band), in Leipzig at the Stadttheater;

• 1934 - Howard Hanson: opera "Merry Mount," (staged premiere) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Tulio Serafin conducting;

• 1949 - Antheil: Symphony No. 6, by the San Francisco Symphony, Pierre Monteux conducting;

• 1950 - William Schuman: Violin Concerto, by Isaac Stern with the Boston Symphony with Charles Munch conducting and Isaac Stern the soloist;

• 1961 - Piston: Symphony No. 7, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting; This work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1961;

• 1966 - Richard Rodney Bennett: Symphony No. 1, in London;

• 1976 - Ulysses Kay: "Southern Harmony," by the North Carolina Symphony;

• 1995 - Daniel Asia: Piano Concerto, by the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Symphony, conducted by Carl St. Clair, with André-Michel Schub the soloist;

• 2001 - Pierre Jalbert: "L'amour infini," (Infinite Love), by the Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller conducting;

Others

• 1859 - First documented complete American performance of Handel's oratorio "Israel in Egypt," at Boston's Melodeon, by the Handel and Haydn Society, Carl Zerrahn conducting; Selections from this work had been performed previously in New York and Boston; The Feb. 19 edition of Dwight's Journal enthused: "Israel at last! The great work, occasionally nibbled at, attacked in fragments, in fits of resolution few and far between, was finally essayed in earnest; and after eight more rehearsals, the giant Handel's greatest work, with the sole exception of the 'Messiah' . . . was offered to the public, and the public wouldn't have it . . . the hall was only two-thirds full";

• 1921 - Charles Ives hears Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" Ballet Suite at an all-Russian program by the New York Symphony at Carnegie Hall; Also on the program were works of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff (with Rachmaninoff as piano soloist); Walter Damrosch conducted.