October 27 1827 – Bellini‘s third opera Il pirata is premiered at Teatro alla Scala di Milano Births: 1703 – Johann Gottlieb Graun, German violinist and composer (d. 1771) 1782 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1840) 1927 – Dominick Argento, American composer 1958 – Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer (d. 2009) Student of Jacqueline du Pre Deaths: 1949 – Ginette Neveu, French violinist (b. 1919) 2012 – Hans Werner Henze, German composer (b. 1926) October 28 1893 – Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer’s death. 1915 – Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his tone poem Eine Alpensinfonie in Berlin. Births: 1733 – Franz Ignaz von Beecke, … Continue reading On this day: week of October 27, 2014

October 20 1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens. Births: 1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954) 1958 – Ivo Pogorelić, Croatian pianist Deaths: 1870 – Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist, singer, and composer (b. 1808) October 21 Births: 1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest, composer, and critic (d. 1844) 1921 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (d. 2006) Deaths: 1662 – Henry Lawes, English pianist and composer (b. 1595) 1991 – Lorenc Antoni, Albanian composer, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1909) October 22 Births: 1811 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1886) 1905 – Joseph Kosma, Hungarian-French composer (d. 1969) Relative of Georg Solti, studied with Bartok 1906 – Kees van Baaren, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1970) 1967 – Salvatore … Continue reading On this day: week of October 20, 2014

Another quiet week, but in volume, not content. October 13 Births: —— Deaths: 1981 – Rebecca Clarke, English viola player and composer (b. 1886) One of the quietest days of the year… October 14 1853 – Ciprian Porumbescu, Ukrainian-Romanian composer (d. 1883) 1935 – La Monte Young, American composer; a stretch? Deaths: 1568 – Jacques Arcadelt, Dutch composer (b. 1507) 1669 – Antonio Cesti, Italian organist and composer (b. 1623) 1990 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1918) October 15 Births: 1762 – Samuel Adams Holyoke, American composer and educator (d. 1820) 1818 – Alexander Dreyschock, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1869) Known for his left hand… (?) 1926 – Karl Richter, German … Continue reading On this day: week of October 13, 2014

October 6 1882 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1937) 1886 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (d. 1960) Deaths: 1762 – Francesco Manfredini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1684) 1947 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (b. 1887) Studied with Sibelius, D’Indy and Fuchs October 7  Births: 1746 – William Billings, American composer (d. 1800) 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913) A nice piano sonata I am vaguely familiar with (F#m?) 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor (whom I met  and got an autograph from after sitting front row in a performance with the Royal Philharmonic here in Taipei 1948 – Stephen Rucker, American composer 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, … Continue reading On this day: week of October 6, 2014