Historical Events of May 15
15 May
** 1754 - Anton Fils, just 20 years old, is appointed cellist to the electoral court of Mannheim - and the appointment is retroactive to 1st February!
** 1794 - cellist Robert Lindley appeared as a soloist on this day in a concert at the King’s Theatre, London
** 1880 - Tchaikovsky wrote to his friend, cellist Jan Seifert:
“I am extremely happy and proud at the thought that the Philharmonic Society intends to devote part of its activities to my music in the next season. Allow me to express to you in person my heartfelt gratitude for the honour being afforded to me ….. I thank you once more, most esteemed friend, and I remain your devoted and grateful”
** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) a recital featured Signor Piatti (cello) and Madame Torricelli (piano)
** 1897 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) a Tchaikovsky Concert featured the cello soloist ‘Monsieur Hollman’. This concert also included the first English performances of Tchaikovsky - Overture from the Opera Voievode, and his Suite for Orchestra, No. 3 in G, Op.55.
** 1924 - The famous composer Paul Hindemith marries a cellist! On 15th May 1924 Paul Hindemith married Johanna Gertrude Rottenberg (usually called Gertrud). And distinguished onlookers; the witnesses were the artistic director of the Frankfurt Radio, Dr. Hans Flesch (who was married to Gertrud's elder sister Gabriele!) and the painter Rudolf Heinisch
** 1930 - Antonia Butler gave a cello recital at the Drawing Room, The Mansion House, London
** 1942 – at a Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra ‘Wehrmacht’ concert, Franz Kwarda performed as cello soloist in Volkmann – String Serenade No.3 in D minor, Op.69. Conductor: Wilhelm Jerger / Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozart Hall, Vienna
** 1944 - an extremely bleak day for the history of the cello - as the political climate in Germany changed, most notably for Jews, and became more threatening, Paul {Pál} Hermann - an excellent Hungarian cellist and a cello professor in Germany - decided to move, first of all to Brussels from 1934–1937, and later to Paris from 1937 to 1939, and then on to the south of France. But he was deported under the Vichy France régime in February 1944 from Toulouse to the internment camp of Drancy.But on today’s date in 1944 - 15th May - he was sent to the Baltic States on the Drancy Convoy 73, and was never heard of again.
** 1947 - cellist Enrico Mainardi performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Hindemith - Cello Concerto (1940). Two concerts, in Amsterdam (15th and 17th May), conducted by the composer
** 1955 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier made a recording of Hindemith - Cello Concerto, in the Dvorak Hall, Prague, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conductor by Karel Ancerl
** 1970 - first performance of Alun Hoddinott - Cello Sonata No.1, Op.73/2
George Isaac/cello and Eric Harrison/piano (Wigmore Hall, London)
** 1970 – cellist Erling Blöndal Bengtsson recorded a live performance playing Emil Hartmann’s Cello Concerto in D minor, Op.26 (written 1879) on Danish Radio.
** 1976 - cellist Tibor de Machula performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Bloch – Schelomo. Two concerts, in Amsterdam (14th May) and Groningen (15th May), conducted by Yoav Talmi
** 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)
** 1999 - Ángel Luis Quintana/cello and Alberto Rosado/piano performed Gonzalo de Olavide Casenave - “Precipiten: para violonchelo y piano” (1993) in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Museo “Thyssen-Bornemisza”, Madrid
