On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera presented its very first Traviata, starring Marcella Sembrich as Violetta.

On this day in 1958 Gian Carlo Menotti‘s elusive opera Maria Golovin premiered on Broadway, to run five performances.

Birthday anniversaries of mezzo-soprano Biserka Cvejic (1923), composer Nicholas Maw (1935) and tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson (1940).