November 22 — On This Day in Opera

Georg Frideric Handel’s double bill—“Alexander’s Feast” with the new “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day”—premiered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, on St. Cecilia’s Day.

Victor Hugo’s play “Le Roi s’amuse” premiered in Paris; its immediate banning inspired Verdi’s later opera “Rigoletto.”

Death of Sir Arthur Sullivan in London, famed composer of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.

Birth of Benjamin Britten in Lowestoft, Suffolk—leading British opera composer (“Peter Grimes,” “Billy Budd,” “The Turn of the Screw”).

Death of Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in London at age 55.

World-premiere staging of Kevin Puts’s opera “The Hours” at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (following its earlier concert presentation).