1801 premiere of Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus at the Burgtheater in Vienna; the composer based the 4th movement of his ‘Eroica’ Symphony and his Eroica Variations for piano on the main theme of the last movement of this ballet.
1842 the Vienna Philharmonic played its first concert (as the ‘Vienna Court Orchestra’) in the Redoutensaale under the direction of composer Otto Nicolai; program included Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, his concert aria Ah, Perfido, Leonore No. 3 and Consecration of the House Overtures, along with vocal selections by Mozart and Cherubini.
1871 first performance of Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1 in Moscow by members of the Russian Musical Society; the Andante cantabile, which has become famous in its own right, was based on a folk song the composer heard at his sister's house at Kamenka, as whistled by a house painter.
1896 premiere of Umberto Giordano's opera Andrea Chenier at La Scala, Milan; the libretto by Luigi Illica is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier (1762-1794), who was executed during the French Revolution; the character Carlo Gérard is partly based on Jean-Lambert Tallien, a leader of the Revolution.
1930 Robert Ashley – American composer (d.2014); best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques.
1942 Samuel Ramey – American bass (82 years old); at the height of his career, greatly admired for his range and versatility, with an accomplished bel canto technique for the music of Handel, Mozart and Rossini, yet with power enough to handle the more dramatic roles written by Verdi and Puccini.
1951 premiere of Douglas Moore’s opera Giants in the Earth in New York City; won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951.
1966 John Axelrod – American conductor (58years old); currently Guest Principal Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi and Artistic and Musical Director of the Real Orquestra Sinfonica de Sevilla.