August 10 — On This Day in Opera

The Arena di Verona Opera Festival was inaugurated with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida", staged to commemorate the centenary of the composer's birth.

Osvaldo Golijov's opera "Ainadamar", with a libretto by David Henry Hwang, received its first performance at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Péter Eötvös's opera "Love and Other Demons", based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez with a libretto by Kornél Hamvai, received its world premiere at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Russian composer Alexander Glazunov was born in Saint Petersburg. Although best known for his symphonies and ballets, he also composed incidental and theatrical music and was an important figure in Russian musical life.

Birth of American composer Douglas Moore, known for his opera "The Ballad of Baby Doe".

Death of Italian dramatic soprano Giuseppina Cobelli, a La Scala star and creator of the role Silvana in Respighi’s "La fiamma" (1934).

German-born British composer Alexander Goehr was born in Berlin. His stage works include the operas "Arden Must Die", "Behold the Sun", "Arianna", and "Promised End".

Birth of American soprano Ashley Putnam, known for her performances in Verdi and 20th-century opera roles and her long career at the Metropolitan Opera.

German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, creator of the influential twentieth-century opera "Die Soldaten", died in Königsdorf near Cologne.