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    31 DECEMBER Centennials...

    1908 Birth of Marko Rothmuller Baritone Born 31 Dec 1908 Zagreb Died 20 Jan 1993 Debut as Ottokar in Freischutz (Weber) 1932 Teachers:- Franz Steiner, Eugen Robert Weiss Pupil :- Gillian Sands Created Truchess von Waldburg in Mathis der Maler (Hindemith)
    1908 Birth of Russian-born American pianist Victor BABIN. d-1972.

    Cellist Valentin Berlinsky dies at 83


    Valentin Berlinsky, for six decades the cellist of the Borodin Quartet, one of the most renowned string quartets in the world and by all accounts the longest continuously playing one, died on 15 December 2008, in Moscow. He was 83 and had lived in Moscow most of his life. The death was announced on the quartet’s Web site, [LINK], which gave no cause.
    WEB - SHOP Borodin Quartet
    26 DECEMBER 1808 Birth of Belgian composer Albert GRISART, aka Grisar, in Antwerp. d-Paris, 15 JUN 1869.

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    24 DECEMBER 1908
    Birth of English conductor and composer Sir Vivian Dunn. d-1958.
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    ON THIS DATE, 22 DECEMBER IN...

    1808 FP of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, Fifth Symphony and Sixth Symphony, at Theatre-an-der-Wein.

    1908 Birth of Rodolfo Moraro Tenor Born 22 Dec 1908 Capodistria Died 18 Aug 1994 Debut in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) 1939 Created Doctor in Sasso Pagano (Viozzi)

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    17 DECEMBER 1908

    Birth of composer William Brocklesby WORDSWORTH. Studied with Sir Donald Tovey. His second symphony won first prize in the Edinburgh International Festival Competition in 1950. Composed symphonies, a piano concerto, songs, and chamber music. d-10 MAR 1988.

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    13 DECEMBER 1908 Birth of Russian pianist and composer Victor BABIN. Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1961. d-1972.

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    Olivier Messiaen (French pronunciation: [mɛsjɑ̃]; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and numbered Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré among his teachers. He was appointed organist at the church of La Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post he held until his death. On the fall of France in 1940 Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, and while incarcerated he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four available instruments, piano, violin, cello, and clarinet. The piece was first performed by Messiaen and fellow prisoners to an audience of inmates and prison guards. Messiaen was appointed professor of harmony soon after his release in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His many distinguished pupils included Pierre Boulez, Yvonne Loriod (who later became Messiaen's second wife), Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis and George Benjamin.

    Happy birthday Elliott Carter



    11 DECEMBER 1908 Birth of American composer and teacher Elliott Cook CARTER, Jr. American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music. His compositions, which have been performed all over the world, include orchestral and chamber music as well as solo instrumental and vocal works.
    WEB - Centenary

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    9 DECEMBER 1908 Birth of Emery Darcy Baritone then Tenor Born 9 Dec 1908 Chicago Debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale (Donizetti) 1932 Teachers:- Lucie Lenox, Walter Taussig, Hermann Weigart
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    6 DECEMBER 1808

    Birth of German composer Johann Christian GEBAUER.

    CLASSICALmanac December 3, 1908

    1908 FP of Elgar's First Symphony. Hans Richter conducts the Hallé Orchestra at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.

    1908 Birth of American composer Halsey STEVENS in Scott NY. d-20 JAN 1989.

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    1 DECEMBER 1908 Birth of Greek composer Georgios KASASSOGLOU in Athens. d-Athens, 2 JUN 1984.
    BIO - WEB

    Clarinetist Mitchell Lurie dies at 86


    Mitchell Lurie, a world-renowned clarinetist and clarinet teacher who taught for many years at USC and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, has died. He was 86. Lurie, who had been in ill health in recent years, died of pneumonia 24 November 2008 at his home in West Los Angeles.
    MORE - NEWS - WEB - SHOP Mitchell Lurie

    Composer Krzysztof Penderecki at 75


    Krzysztof Penderecki (pronounced [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf pɛndɛrˈɛ͡tski], born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor of classical music.
    WEB - IMAGES - NEWS

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    28 NOVEMBER 1908 Birth of Rose Bampton Mezzo-Soprano in Cleveland Ohio Debut as Siebel in Faust (Gounod) 1929 Teachers:- Horatio Connell, Queena Mario Pupils, Thomas Carey, Victoria Vergaa. WEB

    conductor Richard Hickox dies suddenly


    Opera Australia has been shocked by the sudden death of British conductor Richard Hickox, the company's music director. Hickox, 60, suffered a heart attack in London. The news was still filtering out tonight to members of Opera Australia. A shocked Murray Black, The Australian's Sydney opera and classical music critic, said one of Hickox's legacies would be his versatility as a conductor.
    MORE - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Richard Hickox

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    19 NOVEMBER 1908 Death of German composer Albert Dietrich, at 79.
    Birth of Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich CHULAKI.
    Birth of French composer Jean Yves Daniel LESUR in Paris. d-Paris, 2 JUL 2002.

    Cellist George Sopkin dies


    Cellist George Sopkin, one of the founding members of the Fine Arts Quartet passed away on 28 October 2008 at the age of 94. He helped form the Fine Arts Quartet in 1946. The Quartet still performs, though all the original members have either retired from the quartet or passed away.
    WEB - IMAGES - SHOP: Fine Arts Quartet

    Composer Antoine-Amable-Elie ELWART Birth Bicentennial


    18 NOVEMBER 1808 Birth of composer Antoine-Amable-Elie ELWART....aka Aimable-Antoine Elie Elwart (born 18 or 19 November 1808 in Paris; died 14 October 1877 ibid) was a French composer, music educator and scholar. Elwart composed numerous motets, sacred songs, oratorios, several operas, five symphonies, six overtures, chamber music works, including thirty string quartets, four quintets and three trios and choral works. A complete edition of his works was distroyed during the Franco-German War of 1870.
    WEB - IMAGES - BIO

    Guarneri String Quartet retires

    SAN FRANCISCO
    Thursday's concert in Herbst Theatre, a joint appearance with the Johannes String Quartet presented by San Francisco Performances, will be the Guarneri's last Bay Area appearance. And when the concert season comes to an end in May, the four musicians - who also include second violinist John Dalley and cellist Peter Wiley - will go their separate ways. But what a journey it's been. The quartet first assembled in 1964 at the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vt., after having known each other as students at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia; at the time, the lineup included three musicians in their 20s and an older colleague, cellist David Soyer, who retired from the group in 2001.
    MORE - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP: Guarneri String Quartet - VIDEO

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    17 NOVEMBER 1808 Birth of composer Alberich ZWYSSIG...Father Alberich or Alberik Zwyssig (17 November 1808 – 18 November 1854) was a Cistercian monk who composed in 1841 the Swiss Psalm, the present Swiss national anthem....MORE - IMAGES

    CLASSICALmanac

    14 NOVEMBER
    1908 Opening of the newly rebuilt Brooklyn Academy of Music, now also known as BAM. Performance of Gounod's opera Faust by Metropolitan Opera conducted by Francesco Spetrino with Enrico Caruso and Geraldine Farrar. The original Brooklyn Academy of Music was founded in 1861 and was destroyed by a fire on 10 NOV 1903.
    1908 FP of Oscar Straus' operetta Der tapfere Soldat, based on George Bernard Shaw's play Arms and Man, in Vienna. Opened in New York in 1909, and in London in 1910 as The Chocolate Soldier. MORE

    CLASSICALmanac centennials:

    1908 Birth of Erede, Alberto (con/opera) (1908-2001) It. b. Genoa, Nov. 8, 1908; d. Monte Carlo, Apr. 16, 2001: MET: Début: Nov. 11, 1950, La Traviata, 6 seasons (1950-55, 74-75) 280 perf. 15-works.

    1908 Death of French opera author Victorien Sardou (Madame Sans-Gene), at 77. b-1831.

    1908 Birth of Italian conductor Alberto EREDE in Genoa. d-Monte Carlo, 16 APR 2001. MET Opera début, 11 NOV 1950, La Traviata, 6 seasons.

    Philadelphia Orchestra Redesigned Website

    Electronic Ink, the leading design consultancy dedicated to improving the way people interact with technology, their environments, and one another, recently launched a complete redesign of The Philadelphia Orchestra's website http://www.philorch.org. The redesigned site provides an enhanced understanding of the Philadelphia Orchestra's program offerings and better enables visitors to interact with the Orchestra, especially to find concerts and purchase tickets and to make donations...

    http://www.philorch.org/

    Conductor Ashkenazy in Sydney


    The Sydney Symphony's next leader has arrived early, and he has hit the ground running, writes Harriet Cunningham.
    MORE - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Vladimir Ashkenazy

    Italian tenor Gianni Raimondi has died at age 85

    Raimondi, who sang with diva Maria Callas and other opera legends, has died aged 85, Milan's La Scala opera house said Friday. Raimondi died on Sunday, 19 OCT 2008, at his home in Pianoro near Bologna in central Italy. La Scala said in in a statement that he had requested that his death not be announced until after his private funeral. La Scala described Raimondi, who was born in 1923, as having "one of the biggest voices of his time." Raimondi gave 270 performances, including a standout display in Luchino Visconti's 1956 version of Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata". He appeared in Vienna, Berlin, London and New York and worked with Callas and orchestra great Herbert von Karajan at La Scala.

    WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Gianni Raimondi

    NED ROREM at 85


    Ned Rorem (born October 23, 1923) is an American composer and diarist. He is best known and praised for his song settings. He was born in Richmond, Indiana and received his early education in Chicago at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the American Conservatory and then Northwestern University. Later, Rorem moved on to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and finally the Juilliard School in New York City.
    Wiki Bio - WEB - IMAGES - Shop ~ NED ROREM

    Boris Goldovsky's career spanned five decades


    Boris Goldovsky (Cyrillic: Борис Голдовский) (June 7, 1908 - February 15, 2001) was a promoter and popularizer of opera working in the United States of America. As a broadcaster, impresario, and conductor, he became prominent within the American operatic community between 1946 and 1979. He has been called one of the most important popularizers of opera in America. In the summer of 1940, the Russian-born pianist, conductor, and stage director reported for duty at the newly established Berkshire Music Center. He was there to help run the opera department, and in his introductory meeting with the Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director Serge Koussevitzky, he owned up to a secret agenda: "I would like to find out what would happen if we were to treat opera singers like full-fledged artists and not like unmusical and clumsy marionettes who cannot be trusted to think for themselves," he said, as recalled in his memoirs.
    MORE - Wiki Bio - SHOP Boris Goldovsky

    Birth Centennials

    21 OCTOBER 1908
  • Birth of Russian-American violinist Alexander SCHNEIDER in Vilna, Russia. For many years was a member of the Budapest String Quartet. d-1993.
  • Birth of Irish composer Howard FERGUSON in Belfast.
  • Anthony Hopkins, Composer

    "An Evening of Music With Anthony Hopkins & the Dallas Symphony Orchestra – A World Premiere" on Friday night. Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered by many to be one of film's greatest living actors, however, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is presenting a program that will include music he created for the films Slipstream and August, as well as other original compositions and pieces from some of his films written by others. His work as a composer isn't just the product of a successful actor enjoying a new hobby in the way some of his Hollywood counterparts have picked up a paintbrush or sat down at a typewriter. Mr. Hopkins has been "doodling" with music most of his life.
    MORE - IMAGES - SHOP Anthony Hopkins

    Enrique de MARCHENA birth centennial

    13 OCTOBER 1908 Birth of Dominican composer Enrique de MARCHENA in Ciudad Trujillo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. d-Ciudad Trujillo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1988. He studied at the Dominican Republic National University. Graduating in 1929 with a degree of licenciate in law and political sciences. At the same time he studied music at the Liceo Musical of Ciudad Trujillo and piano with Flérida de Nolasco and harmony and composition with Enrique Casal, Chapí and Esteban Peña Morell. He was one of the founders of the Symphonic Society of Ciudad Trujillo. Music critic for Listín Diario and Correspondent for Musical America of New York. President of the Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de la República Dominicana. In 1945 he was appointed general director of the Fine Arts and vice Provost at the University of Ciudad Trujillo.

    John Rutter's 'A Christmas Festival' CD - 2008

    There is no composer currently alive who has been more closely associated with Christmas music than John Rutter. For more than 30 years his seasonal choral music has gained him an international following. This major new album of over a dozen new compositions and arrangements together with Rutter's selection of favourite carols was recorded at London's Cadogan Hall and is the first all new Christmas release from Rutter's celebrated Cambridge Singers for 20 years. Accompanying the superb choir are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and with contributions from the Farnham Youth Choir this is an album with a sales potential far, far beyond the average choral release. The Cambridge Singers are indeed in fine voice and bring to light the soaring melodic cadences of the new Rutter works like "Rejoice And Be Merry", "New Year" and "I Wish You Christmas". His new arrangements are strong too though there's only so much he could do with an over-jolly melody like "Nos Galan (New Year's Eve)", better known to you and I as "Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly". conductor John Rutter Having said that, the haunting Appalachian carol "I Wonder As I Wander" and the quite beautiful "The Shepherd's Carol" are two of the finest examples of Christmas music you'll hear this or any year. Reviewed by Tony Cummings
  • SHOP here for Rutter's A Christmas Festival 2008
  • Rutter on the WEB
  • SHOP The Cambridge Singers directed by John Rutter
  • Birth centennial of RINA CORSI


    Mezzo-Soprano Rina Corsi was from a famous family of Italian singers. She was born, 9 October 1908, in Florence, studied with conductor Leopold Mugnone and began her career in 1929. She had a large repertoire of roles including, Marina, Santuzza, Adelaide, Mignon, Edvige, Suzuki, Teresa, Meg Page, Maddalena, Ninetta, Afra and Paulina. She performed at the great Italian houses; La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera, San Carlo, Teatro Massimo, Teatro Communale, Festival di Caracalla, as well as many of the smaller houses. She retired as a vocal teacher in Florence. SHOP Rina Corsi

    Attractive new website for composer Jack Gallagher


    A new website, for composer Jack Gallagher has been created by the remarkable web designer Ramona Borthwick of LEITMOTIF.COM. It is up and running at:
    www.JackGallagherMusic.com. As a classical music 'site seer' you might wish to take a look.

    Tucson Symphony CD tops charts


    By Cathalena E. Burch Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona
    Available Here
    In the United States, first week sales of “André Mathieu: Piano Concerto No. 4,” with French-Canadian pianist Alain Lefévre, were at least 1,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks record sales to determine Billboard and other record charts. SoundScan spokeswoman Anna Loynes said the album debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s classical charts.
    MORE - WEB

    Birth centennial Paul V Yoder, composer


    8 OCT 1908 Birth of American composer Paul V. YODER. d-1990. American musician, composer, arranger, and band director and composed over 1,500 original compositions and arrangements during the course of his career. This gained him the nickname of "The Dean of American Composers," as well as "Father of Bands" in Japan, and also "America's Musical Ambassador." That latter stemmed from his work overseas in adjucating, composing, participation in clinics, and directing. Dr. Yoder is an honorary life member and past national president of the National Band Association and has been awarded, amongst other awards, the Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts, the Distinguished Service to Music Medal, and has been inducted into the prestigous National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors.
    WEB - SHOP Paul V. YODER

    The music of Philip Glass


    Morning Edition, October 3, 2008 - The music of Philip Glass elicits an array of opinions. Some love it; some don't. Some just don't get it. When he sat down to talk with Morning Edition host Renee Montagne about a new 10-CD retrospective of his work, he said that last reaction was true of some of his early music.
    NPR LISTEN LINK - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Philip Glass

    Zenobia Powell Perry birth centennial


    3 OCT 1908 Birth of American composer poet, pianist, and educator, Zenobia Powell PERRY in Boley, OK. d-Xenia, OH, 17 JAN 2004 at the age of 95.
    WEB - SHOP Zenobia Powell Perry

    J. Friedrich Eduard SOBOLEWSKI & Herman KOPPEL

    1 OCT 1808 Birth of Prussian-Polish composer, conductor and writer J. Friedrich Eduard SOBOLEWSKI in Königsberg, East Prussia. d-17 MAY 1872. WEB

    1 OCT 1908 Birth of Danish composer, pianist and teacher Herman KOPPEL in Copenhagen. d-Copenhagen, 14 JUL 1998. WEB

    The Andre Kostelanetz papers


    The papers of legendary conductor, arranger and broadcaster Andre Kostelanetz have been donated to the Library of Congress by his estate. Kostelanetz died in 1980. The gift is a veritable treasure trove for students of 20th century music and broadcasting. The archive of Kostelanetz' personal property, papers, clippings, letters, sound recordings, posters, and photographs spans some 73 crates. It documents in detail the career of one of America's most remarkable men of music. The gift from Kostelanetz' estate will complement the gift of scores and parts for many of his arrangements Kostelanetz made to the Library of Congress. His papers will join those of George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, and Irving Berlin, among others in the Library's collection of material belonging to eminent American musicians.
    MORE - Official Site - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Andre Kostelanetz

    David Oistrakh birth centennial


    30 SEP 1908 Birth of Russian violinst David OISTRAKH in Odessa. Died in Amsterdam, 24 OCT 1974
    David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (Russian: Давид Фёдорович Ойстрах), David Fiodorovič Ojstrah; September 30 [O.S. September 17] 1908 – October 24, 1974) was a Soviet violin virtuoso who made many recordings and was the dedicatee of numerous violin works. His recordings and performances of Shostakovich's concerti are particularly well known, but he was also a performer of classical concerti. He worked with orchestras in Russia, and also with musicians in Europe and the United States. The violin concerto of Aram Khachaturian is dedicated to him, as are the two violin concerti by Dmitri Shostakovich.

    MORE WIKI BIO - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP David Oistrakh

    Zubin Mehta's autobiography

    Music maestro Zubin Mehta has come up with an autobiography ‘The scores of my Life’. The book gives a candid insight into his personal, as well as public life. In this book he has discussed about his life, his family, and other interesting incidents. Zubin Mehta was born into a Parsi family in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, the son of Mehli and Tehmina Mehta. His father Mehli Mehta was a violinist and founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Zubin is an alumnus of St. Mary's (ISC) High School, Mazagoan, Mumbai. Zubin initially intended to study medicine, but eventually became a music student in Vienna at the age of 18, under the eminent instructor Hans Swarowsky. Also at the same academy along with Zubin were conductor Claudio Abbado and conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim.

    WIKI BIO - WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Zubin Mehta

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