by Ben Hogwood

Here are four very contrasting first performances from 12 December across history for you to enjoy. In 1909, the first performance of Lyadov’s Kikimora in St Petersburg:

In 1920 the first performance of Ravel’s La Valse at a Lamoureux Concert in Paris…

…and on the same day the first performance of Korngold’s Die tote stadt, in Hamburg and Cologne. Here is Marietta’s Lied, sung by Renée Fleming:

…and finally, on the same day in 1932, Leon Goossens and the International String Quartet gave the first performance of the teenage Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet Op.2, in London:

Published post no.2,391 – Thursday 12 December 2024