On this day in 1964 Metropolitan Opera’s Opening Night was the then new Nathaniel Merrill production of Aida. It stars Birgit Nilsson, Carlo Bergonzi, Irene Dalis, Mario Sereni, and Katherine Dunham‘s choreography.

On this day in 1961 Frank Loesser‘s musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opens on Broadway. It stars Robert Morse, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Rudy Vallee

Birthday anniversaries of composers Heinrich Schütz (1585) and José Serrano (1873), composer and conductor Alexander Zemlinsky (1871), soprano Ellen Faull (1918), and tenor Enrico di Giuseppe (1932)

And happy birthday to longtime parterre box critic, contributor, and recording maven Chris Corwin!

Photo: Nancy Lee Katz, Library of Congress