Goldschmidt's bitter "Valentine"

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Berthold Goldschmidt (1903 — 1996) Der gewaltige Hahnrei German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin; Lothar Zagrosek, cond. London 440 850

On This Day

Births

• 1602 - Italian opera composer Francesco Cavalli, in Crema;

• 1778 - Baptism of Catalan composer and guitarist Fernando Sor, in Barcelona;

• 1813 - Russian composer Alexander Dargomizhsky, in Troitskoye, Tula district (Julian date: Feb. 2);

• 1882 - Polish composer and pianist Ignaz Friedman, in Podgorze, near Kraków;

Premieres

• 1829 - Bellini: opera "La Straniera" (The Stranger), in Milan;

• 1880 - Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 15, in Paris at a concert of the Société Nationale de la Musqique Français;

• 1915 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 3 (Gregorian date: Feb. 27);

• 1920 - Erik Satie: "Socrate," in Paris;

• 1922 - Zandonai: opera "Giulietta e Romeo" (Romeo and Juliet), in Rome;

• 1932 - Goldschmidt: opera "Der gewaltige Hahnrei" (The Magnificent Cuckold), in Mannheim at the National Theater;

• 1940 - Cage: "Second Construction," for four percussionists, in Portland, Ore.;

• 1953 - Orff: "Trionfo di Afrodite" (Triumph of Aphrodite), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; Note -- this premiere date is often listed (incorrectly) as Feb. 13, 1953, in many reference works and CD booklet notes;

Others

• 1865 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 7 in G minor, at Boston's Chickering Hall, with Benjamin J. Lang at the piano, accompanied by members of the Mendelssohn Quintet Club; The Feb. 18 edition of Dwight's Journal commented: "A novelty, a quaint one, and as it proved quite captivating . . . Mr. Lang played it with delicacy and nicety, entering into the lightsome, racy humor of it . . . After this experiment, may we not say that the Bach bug-bear is already vanishing?";

• 1911 - Gustav Mahler conducts the New York Philharmonic in a program featuring new music by British (Elgar, Standford) and American (Chadwick, Loeffler, MacDowell and Hadley) composers.