November 8 — On This Day in Opera

La Scala premiere of Rossini's "Tancredi" (Milan production).

Fromental Halévy and Victor Rifaut's one-act opéra comique "Le roi et le batelier", with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, received its world premiere in Paris.

Opening/first performance day of St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Theatre.

First performance of the Kyiv Opera troupe; debut with Verstovsky's "Askold's Tomb" (Old Style Oct 27).

Boston Opera House (Huntington Ave.) opens with Ponchielli's "La Gioconda" starring Lillian Nordica.

The Boston Opera House on Huntington Avenue opened with a performance of Amilcare Ponchielli's "La Gioconda" by the Boston Opera Company.

Sergei Prokofiev's opera "War and Peace" received its first complete performance, with all thirteen scenes, at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow, conducted by Alexander Shaverdov.

Hans Werner Henze's opera "Das verratene Meer" received its United States premiere at San Francisco Opera, conducted by Markus Stenz.

Birth of Russian tenor Ivan Yershov.

Lamberto Gardelli, the Italian conductor especially associated with Verdi and the Italian opera repertory, was born in Venice.

Jerome Hines, the American operatic bass and longtime Metropolitan Opera singer, was born in Hollywood, California.

Ingrid Bjoner, the Norwegian dramatic soprano celebrated internationally for Wagner and Richard Strauss roles, was born in Kråkstad, Norway.

Birth of German dramatic soprano Astrid Schirmer (Berlin).

Death of American operatic tenor and director Michael Pollock.