Music History Monday

We mark the premiere performance, on February 20, 1816 – 207 years ago today – of Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera masterwork, The Barber of Seville, at Rome’s famed Teatro Argentina. Gioachino Anto...

20 Feb 202322min

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) in 1871 We mark the death, on February 13, 1883 – 140 years ago today – of the German composer Richard Wagner, in Venice, at the age of 69. He had been born in the Saxon...

13 Feb 202320min

We mark the death on February 6, 1497 – 526 years ago today – of the composer and singer Johannes Ockeghem, in Tours, France, at the age of 87 (or so).  He was born circa 1410 in the French-speaking c...

6 Feb 202319min

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) in Paris, circa 1955 We mark the death on January 30, 1963 – exactly sixty years ago today – of the French composer and pianist Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc, in Paris. A...

30 Jan 202321min

Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976) in 1942 We mark the death on January 23, 1976 – 47 years ago today – of the American bass-baritone singer, stage and screen actor, civil rights activist, professional...

23 Jan 202325min

Anton Felix Schindler (1795-1864) We mark the death on January 16, 1864 – 159 years ago today – of Anton Felix Schindler, in Frankfurt, at the age of 68.  Born on June 13, 1795, in the town of Medl...

16 Jan 202320min

Rudolf Bing (1902-1997) circa 1944 We mark the birth on January 9, 1902 – 121 years ago today – of the opera impresario Rudolf Bing, in Vienna Austria. The general manager of the Metropolitan Oper...

9 Jan 202321min

Édith Piaf (1915-1963) We mark the birth on December 19, 1915 – 107 years ago today – of the French singer and actress Édith Piaf in the Belleville district of Paris.  Born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ...

19 Des 202216min