Today's Birthdays in Music: August 20 (Bernardi, Vengerov)

1930 - Mario Bernardi, Kirkland Lake, Canada; conductor



Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)


1974 - Maxim Vengerov, Novosibirsk, Russia; violinist

Wikipedia
Official website
Cordes sensibles (La Scena Musicale, Nov. 2002)

Maxim Vengerov plays "Ballade" by Ysaÿe

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 19 (Enescu, G. Schwarz, A. Monk)

1881 - George Enescu, Liveni, Romania; composer, conductor, violinist, pianist, teacher

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

TRAFFIC String Quintet plays Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody (live concert, Bucharest, 2008)



1947 - Gerard Schwarz, Weekawken, U.S.A.; conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

Gerard Schwarz rehearses the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Louis Gruenberg's Violin Concerto (Koh Gabriel Kameda, violin; Tokyo, 2002)



1942 - Allan Monk, Mission, Canada; opera and concert baritone

Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)

Allan Monk and Marilyn Horne sing "Ai capricci delle sorte" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri (Metropolian Opera, 1986)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 18 (MacMillan, Salieri)

1893 - Ernest MacMillan, Mimico, Canada; conductor, composer, organist, pianist

Wikipedia
Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)


1750 - Antonio Salieri, Legnano, Italy; composer and conductor

Wikipedia
Truth or Fiction?

Diana Damrau sings "Sento l'amica speme" from Salieri's Semiramide

Today's Birthday in Music: August 17 (Tomasi)

1901 - Henri Tomasi, Marseille, France; composer and conductor

Wikipedia

Concertino in E major (Tatiana Pimenova - flute, Yana Tratsevskaya - piano; Zurich 2008)


"Tryptique", 3rd mvt. (recital at McGill University, Montreal, 2006)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 15 (Coleridge-Taylor, Ciccolini, Hunter)

1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, London, England; composer and conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and more

Julian Joseph plays "Deep River" from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 24 Negro Melodies



1925 - Aldo Ciccolini, Naples, Italy; pianist

Biography and pictures

Aldo Ciccolini plays Four Mazurkas Op. 30 by Chopin



1933 - Rita Hunter, Wallasey, England; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Official website

Rita Hunter as Brünnhilde

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 14 (Prêtre, Tagliavini)

1924 - Georges Prêtre, Waziers, France; conductor

Wikipedia
Biography

Georges Prêtre conducts the Radio Symphonieorchester Stuttgart in Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 1



1913 - Ferruccio Tagliavini, Reggio Emilia, Italy; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Obituary (The Independent, London, Feb. 1995)

Ferruccio Tagliavini sings "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore

Today's Birthday in Music: August 11 (Leppard)

1927 - Raymond Leppard, London, England; conductor

Biography

The Legacy of Leppard

Today's Birthday in Music: August 9 (Hahn)

1875 - Reynaldo Hahn, Caracas, Venezuela; composer, conductor, music critic

Wikipedia

Reynaldo Hahn's "Feuillage" (1893), played by Phillip Sear


Elly Ameling, accompanied by Dalton Baldwin (1980), sings Hahn's "La valse dernière"

Today's Birthday in Music: August 7 (Husa)

1921 - Karel Husa, Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic); composer and conductor

Wikipedia
Composers Bureau

Husa's Élégie et Rondeau for alto saxophone and orchestra (University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra, soloist Ben Robinette, 2006)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 6 (Strozzi, M.C. Moore)

1619 - Barbara Strozzi, Venice, Italy; composer (baptized Aug. 6)

Wikipedia

Tadashi Miroku & Silvia Rambaldi perform Barbara Strozzi's "Che si può fare" (LakeComo Festival 2007)



1873 - Mary Carr Moore, Memphis, U.S.A.; composer, conductor


Wikipedia

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 5 (A. Thomas, E. Kleiber)

1811 - Ambroise Thomas, Metz, France; composer, teacher, administrator

Wikipedia

Mady Mesplé sings "Je suis Titiana" from Thomas's Mignon (L'orchestre nationale de Paris, 1969)



1890 - Erich Kleiber, Vienna, Austria; conductor

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Erich Kleiber rehearses the Finale (Ode to Joy) of Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, 1949)

Today's Birthday in Music: August 1 (Gagnon)

1942 - André Gagnon, Saint-Pacôme-de-Kamouraska, Canada; pianist, composer, conductor, arranger

Wikipedia
Official website

André Gagnon plays:

 "Après La Pluie"


"Nelligan"

Today's Birthday in Music: July 31 (del Mar)

1919 - Norman del Mar, London, England; conductor and biographer

Wikipedia
Obituary (N.Y. Times, Feb. 8, 1994)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 29 (Schreier, Theodorakis)

1935 - Peter Schreier, Meissen, Germany; opera and concert tenor, conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

Peter Schreier sings "Svegliatevi nel core" from Handel's Giulio Cesare (Munich Bach Orchestra, conducted by Karl Richter, 1969)



1925 - Mikis Theodorakis, Chios, Greece; composer

Wikipedia
Homepage

Excerpt from Zorbas, ballet-opera by Theodorakis (Arena di Verona, 1990)

Today's Birthday in Music: July 28 (Muti)

1941 - Riccardo Muti, Naples, Italy; conductor

Wikipedia

Riccardo Muti conducts the overture to Mozart's Don Giovanni (La Scala, 1987)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 26 (Hewitt, Koussevitzky)

1958 - Angela Hewitt, Ottawa, Canada; pianist

Biography (Encylopedia of Music in Canada)

Angela Hewitt plays Prelude and Fugue in f# minor, BWV883 from J.S. Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, Book 2.



1874 - Serge Koussevitzky, Vyshny Volochyok, Russia; conductor, double-bassist

Wikipedia

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 19 (Neel, Braun, Glennie)

1905 - Boyd Neel, Blackheath, England; conductor, administrator, educator


Biography


1965 - Russell Braun, Frankfurt, Germany; opera and concert baritone

Biography

David Pomeroy and Russel Braun sing "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles (Ottawa Under the Stars, 2007)



1965 - Evelyn Glennie, Aberdeen, Scotland; percussionist

Wikipedia
Homepage

Segment from Evelyn Glennie documentary

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 18 (Schafer, Viardot, Masur)

1933 - R. Murray Schafer, Sarnia, Canada; composer

Biography


1821 - Pauline Viardot, Paris, France; concert and opera mezzo-soprano; composer

Wikipedia

Cecilia Bartoli sings Pauline Viardot's "Havanaise"

1927 - Kurt Masur, Brieg, Germany; conductor

Official website

Kurt Masur conducting the NY Philharmonic in Schumann's Rhenish Symphony, 4th mvt. (1995)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 16 (Zukerman, Ysaÿe)

1948 - Pinchas Zukerman, Tel Aviv, Israel; violinist, violist, conductor

Wikipedia
A Gift for Music (La Scene Musicale, March 2002)

Schubert's "Trout Quintet", 4th mvt., played by Itzhak Perlman (violin), Daniel Barenboim (piano), Jacqueline Du Pré (cello), Zubin Mehta (bass) and Pinchas Zukerman  (viola) (1969)



1858 - Eugène Ysaÿe, Liège, Belgium; violinist, composer, conductor

Wikipedia

Ysaÿe plays "Mazurka" by Wieniawski (1912 recording)

Valeriy Sokolov plays Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 3 for solo violin (filmed by Bruno Monsaingeon at the Yehudi Menuhin School, 2003)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 7 (Mahler, Menotti)

1860 - Gustav Mahler, Kaliště, Bohemia (Czech Republic); composer, conductor

Wik entry
Gustav Mahler Society
Biography and more

Thomas Hampson sings "Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz", No. 4 from Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein)


Symphony No. 5, 1st mvt. "Trauermarsch" (Cologne Philharmonic, conducted by James Conlon)



1911 - Gian Carlo Menotti, Cadegliano, Italy; composer, librettist

Wiki entry

Gian Carlo Menotti - A Composer's Life in Two Worlds

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 6 (Ashkenazy, H. Eisler)

1937 - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gorky, Russia; pianist, conductor

Wiki entry
Biography and more

Ashkenazy plays  Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, 3rd mvt. (Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting)


Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12, 3rd mvt.; Vladimiar Ashkenazy, pianist, conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard



1898 - Hanns Eisler, Leipzig, Germany; composer

Wiki entry
Homepage

"An den kleinen Radioapparat", music by Hanns Eisler, lyrics by Berthold Brecht.  Sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Aribert Reimann, piano (Berlin, 1987)


Hanns Eisler, Nonett No.1, Variationen (1939), played by Quadrivium Ensemble, Dan Rapoport conducting (Venice, 2005)

Today's Birthday in Music: June 30 (Salonen)

1958 - Esa-Pekka Salonen, Helsinki, Finland, conductor and composer

Wiki entry
Biography & work list

The composer conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in his Foreign Bodies (composed 2001)


Interview (2008)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 29 (Mutter, Kubelik)

1963 - Anne-Sophie Mutter, Rheinfelden, Germany; violinist

Wiki entry
Official website

Anne-Sophie Mutter plays the Sarabande from J.S. Bach's Partita in D minor



1914 - Rafael Kubelik, Býchory, Bohemia (Czech Republic), conductor

Wiki entry
Obituary (N.Y. Times, 1996)

Rafael Kubelik leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in "The Moldau" from Smetana's Má vlast (Munich, 1984)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 28 (Hampson, Joachim)

1955 - Thomas Hampson, Elkhart, Indiana; opera and recital baritone

Wiki entry
Biography & pictures
Interview (1998)

Thomas Hampson sings "Die zwei blauen Augen" from Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)



1831 - Joseph Joachim, Kittsee, Hungary; violinist, conductor, composer

Wiki entry
Biography

Joseph Joachim plays his Romance in C major

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 26 (Abbado, Taddei)

1933 - Claudio Abbado, Milan, Italy; conductor

Wiki entry
Biography & photos

Claudio Abbado conducts an excerpt from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet (Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg)



1916 - Giuseppe Taddei, Genoa, Italy; opera baritone

Wiki entry

Giuseppe Taddei sings "Udite, udite o rustici" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore"

Today's Birthday in Music: June 23 (Levine)

1943 - James Levine, Cincinnati, U.S.A.; conductor and pianist

Wiki entry
Biography & photos
Boston Globe profile, 2004

James Levine conducts the overture to Mozart's Don Giovanni


James Levine rehearsing Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Metropolitan Opera (with Jessye Norman and others)


Luciano Pavarotti and James Levine perform Tosti's "Marechiare" (Lincoln Center recital, 1988)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 20 (Offenbach, Pelletier)

1819 - Jacques Offenbach, Cologne, Germany; composer

Wiki entry

Dorothy Bond sings and Moira Shearer dances "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille" (The Doll Song) from Les Contes d'Hoffmann





1896 - Wilfrid Pelletier, Montreal, Canada; conductor and pianist

Biography

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 16 (Hadley, Boskovsky)

1952 - Jerry Hadley, Princeton, Illinois, U.S.A.; opera and concert tenor

Wiki entry
Webpage

Jerry Hadley sings "Che Gelida Manina" from Puccini's La Bohème



1909 - Willi Boskovsky,Vienna, Austria; conductor, violinist

Wiki entry

Vienna New Year's Concert 1974: Boskovsky and the Vienna Philharmonic play Ohne Sorgen (Carefree), Polka by Josef Strauss

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 12 (Knussen, Marcoux)

1952 - Oliver Knussen, Glasgow, Scotland; composer and conductor

Wiki entry
Biography & interview


1877 - Vanni Marcoux, Turin, Italy; opera bass-baritone

Wiki entry
Biography & pictures

Vanni Marcoux sings "Vous êtes si jolie" (1932)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 11 (R. Strauss, Floyd)

1864 - Richard Strauss, Munich, Germany; composer and conductor

Wiki entry
Chronology

Anne Howells (Octavian) and Barbara Bonney (Sophie) sing 'Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren' (The Presentation of the Rose scene) from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 1985)


Alessio Allegrini plays Strauss's Horn Concerto #2 (Filarmonica della Scala, conductor Riccardo Muti, February 1999)



1926 - Carlisle Floyd, Latta, U.S.A.; composer (Susannah)

Wiki entry
Profile (L.A. Times, 2008)

Renée Fleming sings "Ain't it a pretty night" from Susannah (Richard Tucker Gala, 1995)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 9 (Cotrubas, Nielsen)

1939 - Ileana Cotrubas, Galati, Romania; opera soprano

Wiki entry
Biography

Ileana Cotrubas sings "Addio del passato" from Verdi's La Traviata (1983)



1865 - Carl Nielsen, Odense, Denmark; composer, violinist, conductor

Wiki entry

Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable" 4th mvt. (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vanska conducting)