Synopsis
Many operatic works have been described as “revolutionary,” but on today’s date in 1830, a performance of an opera helped to spark a real, take-to-the-streets kind of revolution.
The opera in question was by the French composer Daniel Auber, and entitled La Muette di Portici, or The Mute Girl of Portici. The opera’s story concerns a 17th century uprising by some patriots in Naples against their Spanish rulers ends with an erupting Italian volcano.
On today’s date in 1830 it was being staged at the Theatre La Monnaie in Brussels, a country then under the control of the Dutch. The opera’s story of evil occupiers and patriotic rebels must have touched a raw nerve in many in the Belgian audience.
Upon hearing the line in the opera, “a slave knows no danger, as death is better than living in chains,” some in the audience began a demonstration against the hated Dutch authorities. The demonstration grew more and more heated, and then, just like the volcano in Auber’s opera, erupted out of the theater and into the streets. Symbols of Dutch authority were attacked, a new provisional government was formed, and by November that same year Belgium had declared its independence.
Music Played in Today's Program
Daniel Auber (1782-1871): La Muette de Portici; soloists; Monte Carlo Philharmonic; Thomas Fulton, conductor; EMI 49248
On This Day
Births
1880 - Austrian operetta composer Robert Stoltz, in Graz
1902 - German-born American composer Stefan Wolpe, in Berlin
1918 - American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Deaths
1742 - Portuguese composer José Antonio Carlos de Seixas, 38, in Lisbon
1774 - Italian opera composer Niccolò Jommelli, 59, in Naples
Premieres
1830 - Auber: opera, La Muette de Portici (aka Masaniello), in Brussels, igniting political riots leading to expulsion of Dutch and the Belgian Revolution of 1830
1948 - Henze: Symphony No. 1 at Bad Pyrmont
1978 - Rorem: Sunday Morning at Saratoga Springs, New York, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy
Others
1830 - Auber: opera, La Muette de Portici (aka Masaniello), in Brussels, igniting political riots leading to expulsion of Dutch and the Belgian Revolution of 1830
1870 - Richard Wagner marries Cosima Liszt von Bulow
1959 - On his 41st birthday, Leonard Bernstein conducts a tour performance by the New York Philharmonic in Moscow. The program includes Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Ives’ The Unanswered Question.
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.
