On This Day

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On This Day
9 August: Ferenc Fricsay Was Born
The prodigiously gifted Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay tragically died at the age of 48. A student of Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leó Weiner, Fricsay was “one of the few artists in classical music that were seemingly
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On This Day
3 August: Itamar Golan Was Born
Itamar Golan, born on 3 August 1970 in Vilnius, Lithuania emigrated with his family to Israel when he was only one year old. He began his piano studies with Lara Vodovoz and gave his first concerts in Tel-Aviv at the
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On This Day
1 August: Jordi Savall Was Born
One of the most important architects of the current revaluation of historical music, Jordi Savall has dedicated his spectacular creative vitality to themes of cultural exchange and communication transcending borders. A concert performer, teacher, researcher, and creator of new musical
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On This Day
27-28 July: Antonio Vivaldi Died
Antonio Vivaldi’s operatic opportunities in Venice were rapidly drying up in 1739. As the famous letter from Charles de Brosse relates, “Vivaldi is an old man with a mania for composing. I have heard him boast of composing a concerto
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On This Day
26 July: Angela Hewitt was Born
Pianist Angela Hewitt is probably best known for her cycle of Bach recordings, a project started in 1994 and finished in 2005. To complete her mission, she added a recording of Bach’s The Art of the Fugue in 2014. Angela
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On This Day
24 July: Richard Strauss’ Friedenstag Was Premiered
Premiered on 24 July 1938 at the National Theatre Munich, Friedenstag (Day of Peace) is arguably the least known of Strauss’ opera and in many respects the least characteristic. In fact, this serious, rather earnest treatment of war is certainly
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On This Day
23 July: Domenico Scarlatti Died
Domenico Scarlatti’s final years are “of a contrast between a striking show of vitality, which saw him continue to father children up to the for the period advanced age of 64, and a creative mood of introspection which produced the
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On This Day
21 July: Isaac Stern Was Born
Isaac Stern’s tombstone simply reads, “Isaac Stern, Fiddler.” However, the violinist was much, much more than that. He was an educator who mentored generations of musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, and his activism on behalf of classical music
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