Historical Events of April 18
18 April
** 1759 - birth of Jacques Christian Michel Widerkehr l'Aîné {also Wiederkehr, Viderkehr} (Strasbourg, France) d.1823
composer and cellist. Performed with the Concert Spirituel and the orchestra of the Loge Olympique
** 1800 - Beethoven composed his Sonata for Piano and French Horn for a concert held at the Vienna Hofburgtheater on 18th April 1800 by Giovanni Punto (Johann Wenzel Stich), the most famous horn player of his day. The solo part was designed to grant Punto an opportunity to display his special prowess; in consequence, there were few professional virtuosos capable of performing it - so Beethoven made a version for cello, which (unfortunately) has been performed on very few occasions
** 1834 - birth of Ludwig Ebert (Chateau Kladrau, Bohemia)
cellist, member opera orchestra of Temesvar, principal cello in the Ducal Chapel of Oldenburg, professor in Cologne of the ‘Rhenish School of Music’, principal cello of the Gürzenich Orchestra
** 1884 - first performance of d’Indy - Lied, Op.19 for cello and orchestra
soloist - ? (Société National de Musique, Paris)
** 1891 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Ada Patterson (vocal), Master Jean Gerardy (cello) and Mr H. Krause
** 1914 - birth of Fritz Magg (Vienna) d.1997
cellist, orchestral principal cello, chamber musician {based USA}
** 1920 - first performance of Marrhijs Vermeulen - Cello Sonata No.1 (written in 1918)
performed by Thomas Canivez & Evert Cornelis (Amsterdam)
** 1920 – cellist Diran Alexanian performed the premiere of Jean Huré – Cello Sonata No.3 in F# Major, with the composer at the piano. The sonata was dedicated to him. In a wonderful programme he also presented J.S. Bach's Fourth Cello Suite and Georges Enesco's Sinfonia concertante for cello and orchestra, op. 8, with (once again) the author at the piano.
** 1927 – in a Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Radio concert, Friedrich Buxbaum performed Dvorak – Waldesruhe, Op.68/4 and Rondo, Op.94. Orchestral music of Beethoven, Wagner and Bruckner was also heard. Conductor: Franz Schalk
** 1968 - cellist Anner Bijlsma performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Tchaikovsky – Rococo Variations, Op.33. Concert in Amsterdam, conducted by Bernard Haitink
** 1974 - in the Schubert-Saal, Vienna, a solo recital of music of J.S. Bach was given by cello soloist Thomas Igloi, under the auspices of the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft
** 1975 – on the 17th, 18th and 19th of this month, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Bernstein), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1977 - birth of Irina Comesaña (Madrid)
cellist, assistant principal cello Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE (Spanish Radio-Television Orchestra) & professor
** 1981 - birth of Sol Gabetta (Villa María, Argentina)
cellist {based Germany}
** 1988 – Danish cellist Erling Blöndal Bengtsson made a live performance recording of György Ligeti’s Cello Concerto (1966) in Aarhus, Denmark
