April 19: Names and Notes in Music

[Lance]

APRIL 19

Births and Deaths

• Died 1950: (Sir) Gerald Hugh Berners, composer, born 09-18-1883
• Born 1863: Felix Blumenfeld, pianist/composer/teacher, died 01-21-1931 [teacher of pianist Vladimir Horowitz]
• Died 1945: Alois Burgstaller, tenor, born 09-21-1871
• Died 1943: Gustave Doret, conductor/composer, born 09-20-1866
• Born 1967: Barbara Frittoli, soprano
• Born 1910: Blas Galindo Damas, composer, born 02-03-1910
• Born 1908: Joseph Keilberth, conductor, died 07-20-1968
• Born 1936: Bernard Klee, conductor
• Born 1932: Suzanne Lautenbacher, violinist
• Died 1981: Ernst Levy, pianist, born 11-18-1895
• Died 1964: Maurice Marechal, cellist, born 10-03-1882
• Born 1947: Murray Perahia, pianist
• Born 1868: Max von Schillings, composer/conductor, died 07-24-1933
• Died 1975: Aksel Schiøtz, tenor, born 09-01-1906
• Born 1892: Germaine Tailleferre, composer, died 11-07-1983
• Born 1924: Hertha Topper, mezzo-soprano
• Born 1947: Yan Pascal Tortelier, violinist/conductor [son of cellist Paul Tortelier]
• Died 1876: Samuel Sebastian Wesley, organist/composer, born 08-14-1810
• Born 1892: Walter Widdop, tenor, died 09-06-1949
• Born 1965: Lydia Zilberstein, pianist

Musical Quote for Today

"Simplicity, truth and nature are the great touchstones of the beautiful in all artistic creation."
—Christoph Willibald Gluck, composer

What happened on this day in music history?

The first performance of Gluck's opera Iphigenie en Aulide was given in Paris in 1774.

[Gary]

APRIL 19

Born 1908: Joseph Keilberth, conductor, died 07-20-1968

He once said that he wished to die the way that Felix Mottl had died: while conducting Tristan und Isolde; he got his wish in 1968 in Munich.

[Lance]

APRIL 19

Born 1908: Joseph Keilberth, conductor, died 07-20-1968

He once said that he wished to die the way that Felix Mottl had died: while conducting Tristan und Isolde; he got his wish in 1968 in Munich.

Ah, sixty years old is too young to call it quits. Most conductors lived considerably longer lives. Just think, if Keilberth hadn't been conducting Tristan und Isolde that day, he might have lived longer until, perhaps, the next time he conducted Wagner's opera. But I guess it's all in the cards.