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December 27

1841 Franz Liszt performs at the Singakademie in Berlin; women swooned and the general audience reacted with such uncontrolled enthusiasm that Heinrich Heine coined the term ‘Lisztomania’ to describe their fanatical devotion to the performer, which soon swept through most of Europe.

1906 Oscar Levant – American composer, pianist and entertainer (d.1972); was as famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, as for his music.

1911 Anna Russell – Australian parodist (d.2006); famous for her explanation of Wagner’s enormously complex Ring Cycle in just twenty minutes, How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan opera and many others.

1954 premiere of Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street at the Broadway Theater in New York, conducted by Thomas Schippers; won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1955 and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.