Birthday anniversaries of composer Gaspare Spontini (1774)
tenor Kálmán Pataky (1896)
composer Aaron Copland (1900)
librettist Eric Crozier (1914)
contralto Jean Madeira (1918)
soprano Lisa Otto (1919)
and baritone Jake Gardner (1947)
On this date in 1908 Oscar Strauss’ operetta Der tapfere Soldat premiered in Vienna
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
