December 11 — On This Day in Opera

The Royal English Opera company under Louisa Pyne and William Harrison gives its last performance at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, before moving to Covent Garden, an important step in the institutional history of what is now the Royal Opera House.

Death in Rome of Italian tenor Giovanni Matteo De Candia, known as Mario, one of the most celebrated bel canto tenors of the 19th century in Paris and London.

Premiere of Ilse von Stach's Christmas play 'Das Christ-Elflein' with incidental music by Hans Pfitzner at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the first stage version of the work that Pfitzner later turned into an opera.

First radio broadcast from New York's Metropolitan Opera: a double bill of Mascagni's 'Cavalleria rusticana' and Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci', transmitted using Lee de Forest's experimental radio equipment.

World premiere of Hans Pfitzner's revised two-act opera 'Das Christ-Elflein' at the Königlich-Sächsisches Hoftheater (Dresden Court Opera), conducted by Fritz Reiner and featuring Richard Tauber as Frieder.

Birth of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz, whose works include the operas 'Benvenuto Cellini', 'Les Troyens', and 'Béatrice et Bénédict', in La Côte-Saint-André, Isère.

Death of Austrian (Bohemian-born) tenor Alois Ander in Wartenberg; he was a leading tenor of the Vienna Kärntnertor Theatre, admired particularly for roles such as Stradella, Jean in Meyerbeer's 'Le prophète', and Wagner's 'Lohengrin'.

Birth of Italian tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, later a leading tenor at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, in Lanuvio, Italy.

Birth of Swiss tenor Max Meili in Winterthur; he became known for early music and took part in the premiere of Alois Hába's opera 'Die Mutter' in Munich in 1931.

Birth of Italian soprano Sara Scuderi in Catania, Sicily; she later sang leading roles at La Scala and in the world premiere of Malipiero's opera 'Giulio Cesare'.

Birth of Czech conductor František Babický in Prague, later active as an opera conductor at the National Theatre in Prague and other Czech houses.

Death of Italian dramatic tenor Francesco Merli in Milan; many biographical references give 11 December 1976 as his date of death, though some sources cite 12 December.

Death of Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya in Moscow, famed for her work at the Bolshoi Theatre and for roles in operas by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Britten.