Historical Events of May 12
12 May
** 1739 - birth of Johann Baptist Vanhal (Nové Mitrovice, Czech Rep) d.1813
composer, violinist, cellist, organist & choirmaster
His music was well respected by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. He was an instrumental performer as well. While being a proficient organist, he also played the violin and cello.
Wanhal was a prolific writer; attributed to him are 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies, 95 sacred works, and a large number of instrumental and vocal works. The best of the symphonies, in particular, are comparable with many of Haydn's. He also wrote three cello concertos.
Around 1780 Wanhal seems to have stopped writing large-scale instrumental music, and rather contented himself with writing piano music for the growing middle class, and church music. Maybe this was partly because such was his success, that within a few years of his symphonies being written, they were being performed around the world, and as far distant as the United States. In later life, however, he rarely moved from Vienna, where he was also an active teacher.
** 1782 - cellist Jean Tricklir performed with the violinist E. Schick, at Leipzig on 12th May 1782 - on the programme both are described as chamber virtuosos to the Elector of Mayence
** 1828 - cellist Max Bohrer (born in 1785 on Munich) played duets with his violinist brother at a Philharmonic concert in London
** 1882 - first performance of Claude Debussy - Nocturne et Scherzo for cello and piano, but in a version for violin and piano (with Maurice Thieberg - violin and Claude Debussy -piano) at the Salon Flaxland, Paris. The music was not published until 1995.
** 1894 - On 12th May 1894 Johan Snoer (professional Dutch-Austrian cellist and professional harpist, both as joint ‘first’ instrument!) married fellow harpist Antoinette Rutters in Amsterdam.
** 1900 - a young Bela Bartok (then just19 years old) meets David Popper for the first time at Popper’s home (he was to accompany the cellist at a forthcoming concert!)
** 1906 - a series of “Five Historical Violoncello Recitals” was presented by Boris Hambourg at the Aeolian Hall, London. The performances were given 'to illustrate the development of the cello literature from its earliest beginning to the present day'. On this very day he played the concert: 1. Italian and other Masters of the 17th and 18th Centuries - 12 MAY
** 1910 - cellist Gerard Hekking performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Lalo – Cello Concerto. Concert in Amsterdam, conducted by Cornelis Dopper
** 1921 – at a special Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert dedicated to the figure of Friedrich Buxbaum, he himself was cello soloist in Weingartner – Cello Concerto, Op.60. and Dvorak – Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104 – and on top of those, he also performed Reger’s Second Solo Cello Suite in D minor, Op.131!
Place: Musikverein, Golden Hall, Vienna
** 1932 - a Recital by Keith Falkner (baritone), Antonia Butler (cello) and Michael Mulliner (piano), for the Oxford Subscription Concerts (England)
** 1942 - birth of Arto Noras (Turku, Finland)
Cellist
A member of the Helsinki Trio and a founding member of the Sibelius Academy Quartet. Founder and Artistic Director of the Naantali Music Festival and the International Paulo Cello Competition. As a result, he has been in considerable demand as a jurist for the world’s most important cello competitions.
** 1946 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Siegfried Borries & Tibor de Machula with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Celibidache
** 1984 – on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 15th of May, cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Leinsdorf), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1986 - first modern performance of Richard Strauss - Romanze
(soloist - Jan Vogler with Orchestra of Dresden Semperoper, conducted by Günter Neuhold)
** 1991 – birth of Kelsy Lu (Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A.)
A female American singer and cellist, based in Los Angeles, who is a specialist in ‘avant poop’ and ‘baroque pop’. Her birth name was Kelsey Elizabeth McJunkins.
** 1996 – the premiere took place (at Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin) of Ann Hoban’s Chamber Cello Concerto (written in 1994). This small concertante piece featured Solo Cello and a chamber ensemble (piccolo, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon); the musicians on this occasion were David James (cello), Deirdre Brady (piccolo), Ruby Ashley (oboe), Paul Roe (clarinet), and John Leonard (bassoon)
** 1996 - Mstislav Rostropovich, solo cellist, gave the world premiere of Lorin Maazal’s “Music – for Violoncello and Orchestra”, Op.10, (written 1993-1994), with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer. This 30-minute work had been a commission from Rostropovich himself.
** 1997 - first performance of Velislav Zaimov - Sexted, for six cellos
cellists: the cello class of Ani Atanasova (Bulgaria)
