1878
Premiere
Charles Gounod's "Polyeucte", with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré after Corneille, received its world premiere at the Palais Garnier in Paris.
October 7 — On This Day in Opera
This page lists notable events in opera history that happened on October 7, including world premieres, composer births, deaths, and important milestones.
Premieres & milestones
1909
Premiere
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Golden Cockerel" received its world premiere at the Solodovnikov Theatre in Moscow.
1927
Premiere
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera "Das Wunder der Heliane" received its world premiere at the Hamburg State Opera, conducted by Egon Pollak.
1939
Premiere
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera "Die Kathrin" received its world premiere at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
1954
The Metropolitan Opera announced the hiring of contralto Marian Anderson, preceding her historic Met debut as Ulrica in Verdi's "Un ballo in maschera" in January 1955.
1986
LA Opera opened its inaugural production with Verdi's "Otello" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, starring Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes and Gabriela Beňačková.
2000
Premiere
Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking", with a libretto by Terrence McNally, received its world premiere at San Francisco Opera.
Births & deaths
1880
Born
American soprano May Peterson Thompson was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; she later sang with the Metropolitan Opera and the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
1884
Born
Swedish soprano Lilly Hafgren was born in Stockholm; she became a prominent Wagner and Richard Strauss singer at Bayreuth, the Berlin Opera and other leading European houses.
1959
Died
American tenor and actor Mario Lanza died; his operatic recordings and films made him one of the best-known classical vocal stars of his era.
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