Historical Events of February 19
19 February
** 1743 - birth of Luigi Boccherini (Lucca, Toscana, Italy) d.1805
cellist, court cellist & composer
** 1880 - birth of Henryk Adamus (Warsaw) d.1950
cellist, composer & conductor
** 1899 - in the series of the Sunday Afternoon Orchestral Concerts given at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, featured soloist was cellist Bertie Withers with ‘Miss Maggie Davies’
** 1914 – the first performance of Arthur Foote - Aubade, Op. 77 (1912) was given by Alwin Schroeder and the composer at Boston's Jordan Hall. This was an important moment for the composer; some twenty years earlier, Schroeder had been elected to perform Foote's new Cello Concerto with the Boston Symphony, but Foote was to withdraw the concerto after its Chicago world premiere with Bruno Steindel as soloist got a lukewarm reception. Schroeder had confidence in him though, and took part in several first performances of Foote chamber works during his years as cellist of the Kneisel Quartet.
** 1921 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Suite in D minor, in version with orchestra, Op.16-bis
soloist - Joseph Hollmann (at the Concerts Pasdeloup, Paris)
** 1923 – cellist Diran Alexanian gave two recital performances, on 17th and 19th February of this year, in Barcelona, with the marvellous experience of sharing the concert platform together with a young Sergei Prokofiev.
** 1947 - cellist Anna Saulowna Luboshutz (born Odessa, Ukraine) gave her very final concert on this day; she was described as:
“You are an artist whose conscientiousness and commitment to her work serves as an example to others”.
** 1950 - in a concert at Community Centre, Richmond, London (Richmond Concerts Society), Douglas Cameron (cello) was invited soloist performing Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Community Centre String Orchestra conducted by Rubbra (in his own work) and Irene Swann
** 1957 - Leonard Rose was special invited cello soloist in two performances, where he played by the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, and in the Brahms Double Concerto in A minor, Op.102 alongside Yehudi Menuhin, on the 19th and 20th February 1957. Howard Mitchell was conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in the Constitution Hall of Washington D.C. as a dedication to the ‘National Brotherhood Week’.
** 1976 – on the 19th, 20th and 24th of this month, cellist Lynn Harrell performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Levine), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1987 – on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 24th of this month, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Shostakovich and Penderecki), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1989 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Rafael Figueroa, with Wu Han /piano
** 1992 - first performance of Brett Dean - Twelve Angry Men, for 12 Cellos
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (Philharmonie, Berlin)
** 1997 - first performance of Roger Smalley - Cello Concerto
(Perth, Australia)
