On this day in 1996 mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Despina. Unseen at the Met since 1998.

On this day in 1895 Tchaikovsky’s and Petipa’s ballet Swan Lake premiered in St Petersburg.

Birthday anniversaries of bass-baritone Ferdinand Frantz (1906), soprano Ilona Steingruber (1912) and tenor Giacinto Prandelli (1914)