“Siroe, re di Persia” is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was his 12th opera for the Royal Academy of Music and was written for the sopranos Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. The opera uses an Italian-language libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Metastasio’s Siroe. Like many of Metastasio’s libretti, it was also set by Handel’s contemporaries, e.g. by Leonardo Vinci, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Adolph Hasse). Pasquale Errichelli’s setting of the libretto premiered in the year of Handel’s death.
February 28, 2012
Georg Handel’s opera “Siroe, re di Persia”
On This Day …
1728 – Georg F Handel’s opera “Siroe, re di Persia,” premieres in London
1819 – 1st public performance of a Schubert song, “Schäfers Klageleid”
1862 – Opera “La Reine de Saba,” premieres in Paris
1902 – Jules Massenets opera premieres in Monte Carlo
1959 – Ice Dance Championship at Colo Springs USA won by Denny & Jones of GRB
1966 – Cavern Club (Beatles hangout) in Liverpool closes
1969 – Ice Dance Championship at Colorado Spr won by Towler & Ford of GBR
1976 – 18th Grammy Awards: Love Will Keep Us Together, Natalie Cole wins
1984 – 26th Grammy Awards: Beat It, Michael Jackson wins 8
1996 – 38th Grammy Awards: Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morisette wins
February 26, 2012
On This Day …
1869 – Franz Schubert’s “4th Tragic,” premieres
1932 – Johnny Cash was born
1970 – Beatles release “Beatles Again” aka “Hey Jude” album
1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 37 weeks
1985 – 27th Grammy Awards: Whats Love Got to Do With It, Cyndi Lauper wins
1987 – 1st release of Beatles compact discs
1997 – 39th Grammy Awards: Change the World Babyface, Beck & LeAnn Rimes wins
February 25, 2012
George Harrison birthday
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles.Often referred to as “the quiet Beatle”,Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other Beatles, as well as their Western audience.Following the band’s break-up he was a successful solo artist, and later a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys.
Harrison was also a session musician and a film and record producer. He is listed at number 11 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Armand-Louis Couperin birthday
Armand-Louis Couperin (25 February 1727 – 2 February 1789) was a French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He was a member of the Couperin family of musicians, of which the most notable were his great uncle Louis and his cousin François.
Couperin was born in Paris. His mother died when he was only 17 months old and he was raised by his father, Nicolas, also a composer and the successor to François “Le Grand” as organist at St. Gervais Church in 1748. At age 21, Couperin’s father died without leaving a will. His inheritance included Nicolas’s post at St. Gervais. In 1752, Couperin married Elisabeth-Antoinette Blanchet, a professional musician and the daughter of the best harpsichord maker in France, François-Etienne Blanchet. They had four children, three of whom became musicians.
Couperin and his wife taught harpsichord lessons and she was the organist at the abbey of Montmartre. Following his departure from St. Gervais, Couperin’s many posts included St. Barthélemy (to 1772), St Jean-en-Grève, the convent of the Carmes-Billettes, Notre Dame (from 1755), the Sainte Chapelle (from 1760), Sainte Marguerite, and the royal chapel (from 1770).
Couperin died at 61 in Paris in a traffic accident.
February 22, 2012
On This Day …
1934 – “It Happened One Night,” opens at NY’s Radio City Music Hall
1950 – Brockway & Weinstock publish “Men of Music” (rev ed)
1963 – Beatles begin their own music publishing company (Northern Songs)
1964 – Beatles arrive back in England after their 1st US visit
1970 – “Charles Aznavour” closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 23 perfs
1989 – 31st Grammy Awards: Don’t Worry Be Happy, Faith, Tracy Chapman
1989 – 1st Spanish commercial on network TV (Pepsi-Cola-CBS Grammy Award)
1992 – “Park Your Car in Harvard Yard” closes at Music Box NYC
1992 – Rockers Kurt Corbin (Nirvana) & Courtney Love (Hole), wed
February 19, 2012
On This Day …
1914 – Riccardo Zandonai’s opera “Francesco da Rimini,” premieres in Turin
1964 – UK flies ½ ton of The Beatles wigs to the US
1974 – 1st American Music Award:
1977 – 19th Grammy Awards: This Masquerade, Starland Vocal Band
1978 – Coleman, Comden & Green’s musical premieres in NYC
1981 – George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for “subconscious plagiarism” “My Sweet Lord” with “He’s So Fine”
1992 – Ken Ludwig’s musical “Crazy for You,” premieres in NYC
February 14, 2012
More about Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky’s pupils, such as Heinrich Neuhaus.
Ferruccio Busoni famously observed that he and Godowsky were the only composers to have added anything of significance to keyboard writing since Franz Liszt.
As a composer, Godowsky is best known for his transcriptions of works by other composers. His best known work in the field is 53 Studies on Chopin’s Études (1894–1914).
Johann Strauss’ magnificent “Blue Danube Waltz”
The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 (German for On the Beautiful Blue Danube), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed 13 February 1867 at a concert of the Wiener Männergesangsverein (Vienna Men’s Choral Association), it has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire. Its initial performance was only a mild success however and Strauss is reputed to have said “The devil take the waltz, my only regret is for the coda—I wish that had been a success!”
February 13, 2012
Fernando Sor birthday
Josep Ferran Sorts i Muntades (baptized 14 February 1778 – died 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. While he is best known for his guitar compositions, he also composed music for a wide range of genres, including opera, orchestra, string quartet, piano, voice, and ballet.
His ballet score Cendrillon (Cinderella) received over one hundred performances. Sor’s works for guitar range from pieces for beginning players to advanced players such as Variations on a Theme of Mozart.
Sor gave concerts throughout Europe, including in England, Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw.
As Sor’s works were published in various countries, his name was translated, leading to variations in the spelling.
