October 16 — On This Day in Opera

Johann Adolph Hasse’s opera "Il Ruggiero, ovvero L'eroica gratitudine", with a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, received its first performance at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan as part of the wedding celebrations for Archduke Ferdinand Karl and Maria Beatrice d'Este.

Antonio Salieri’s "La cifra", with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, received its first performance at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

First performance of Alfred Cellier’s operetta "Nell Gwynne" in Manchester.

Zoltán Kodály’s folk opera "Háry János" received its world premiere at the Hungarian Royal Opera House in Budapest, conducted by Nándor Rékai.

Simon Bruckard’s children’s opera "The Selfish Giant", with a libretto by Emma Muir-Smith after Oscar Wilde, received its world premiere at Arts Centre Melbourne in a Victorian Opera production.

Silvia Colasanti’s opera "L'ultimo viaggio di Sindbad", with a libretto by Fabrizio Sinisi inspired by writings of Erri De Luca, received its world premiere at Teatro Nazionale in Rome.

Franz Doppler, flautist, conductor and composer of operas including "Benjowski", "Ilka", "Wanda" and "Judith", was born in Lemberg, now Lviv, Ukraine.

Italian conductor and opera composer Carlo Pedrotti, best known for "Tutti in maschera", died in Verona.

Italian operatic baritone Gino Bechi was born in Florence; he became particularly associated with Verdi roles and was a prominent singer at La Scala and the Rome Opera.

Russian operatic baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk; he became internationally celebrated for Verdi roles and the title role of Tchaikovsky’s "Eugene Onegin".