September 4 — On This Day in Opera

First performance of Jacopo Peri’s opera "Euridice", one of the earliest surviving operas, staged during a royal wedding in Florence.

Étienne-Nicolas Méhul's opera "Euphrosine, ou Le tyran corrigé", with a libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman, received its world premiere at the Salle Favart in Paris.

Laura Kaminsky's chamber opera "As One", with a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, received its world premiere at BAM Fisher in Brooklyn in a production by American Opera Projects.

Gaetano Donizetti's rediscovered opera "Dalinda", composed in 1838 but never fully staged during the composer's lifetime, received its world-premiere full staging by Opera UCT at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.

Darius Milhaud, prolific French composer whose stage works include "Le pauvre matelot", "Christophe Colomb", and numerous other operas and music-theatre works, was born.

Rudolf Schock, German tenor celebrated in opera and operetta and known for roles including Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Tamino, and Lohengrin, was born in Duisburg.

Delores Ziegler, American mezzo-soprano who sang leading Mozart and Richard Strauss roles at houses including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, was born in Atlanta.

René Pape, German operatic bass internationally associated with major Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, and Mussorgsky roles, was born in Dresden.

Death of American mezzo-soprano Cecil Arden, who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in Mascagni’s "Lodoletta" alongside Caruso in 1918.

William Zakariasen, American tenor whose Metropolitan Opera repertoire included "La fanciulla del West", "Wozzeck", "Boris Godunov", "Salome", and "La traviata", died.