164 years ago today, Giacomo Puccini was born. Considered as the greatest composer of Italian opera in history alongside or perhaps just behind Verdi, his work includes many of the most-performed spectacles in Italian opera, including La Boheme, Tosca, Turandot, and Madame Butterfly. Often regarded as a romanticist who honored 18th-century Italian tradition, Puccini would go on to incorporate different themes and mechanisms into his music, not least of which was the Chinese motifs in Turandot. READ more… (1858)
His breakout success was Manon Lescaut set in Paris, but performed in Italian, and was the first dose of a characteristic of Puccini’s: he was difficult to work with. Wanting no librettist to interfere with his plan, he eventually took on no less than 5 in a rotating cast to finish the opera.
Afterward he began to pass into what is called the verissimo style of telling stories in which the characters are exploring real-world problems and passions. Out of this came La Boheme and Tosca which remain commonly performed pieces, and a character in Tosca which has become a rite of passage for famous sopranos.
His final opera was about a Chinese princess who cut the heads off men trying to woo her by way of a game of riddles. Out of this came a most famous aria for performing tenors, Nessun dorma (No one sleeps). Puccini died before he could finish it.
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34 years ago today, Lech Walesa took the oath as Poland’s first popularly elected president.
Photo by Giedymin Jabłoński, CC licenseOnly a decade earlier he had led Polish workers from the Solidarity movement in a two-month strike, demanding–and winning–the unimaginable right to organize independent labor unions in the Communist country. Using the slogan, “I don’t want to, but I’ve got no choice,” he won the country’s first election in 63 years to become the first non-Communist president in nearly a half-century. (1990)
52 years ago today, the renowned international aid group Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) was founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris. One of their first missions after its formation was to Afghanistan in 1980.
In 1999, the private organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and last year coordinated more than 30,000 personnel — mostly volunteer medical professionals — to treat the poor and war-ravaged population in 70 countries. Visit their website to donate or learn more. (1971)
Photo doctors without borders flag by Richard Roche, CC licenseAnd on this day in 1967, The Graduate debuted on movie theater screens across the U.S.
The film starred a boyishly awkward Dustin Hoffman—who earned the part over Robert Redford because he possessed that exact quality. He played Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman (played by Anne Bancroft) but then falls in love with her daughter. Director Mike Nichols won an Oscar for directing one of the greatest comedy-dramas of all time. The film’s soundtrack features the Simon and Garfunkel song about the older woman, “Mrs. Robinson”, who warns Benjamin to never approach her daughter, and “The Sound of Silence.”
And on this day in 1958, Christmas Don’t Be Late, by The Chipmunks, hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for four weeks. The song, written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) who varied the tape speeds to produce high-pitched chipmunk voices, went on to win three Grammy Awards. The hit, officially named “The Chipmunk Song,” became the only Christmas song ever to reach #1, and is one of the most downloaded digital Christmas songs ever.
In the recording, which was featured on the animated TV series ‘The Alvin Show’, Dave asks the Chipmunks if they are ready to sing. Simon and Theodore answer enthusiastically, but Alvin hesitates, causing Dave to yell ‘ALVIN!’, to which Alvin responds reluctantly, ‘Okay!’ After Dave scolds Alvin for sounding flat, they sing it again. When they want to sing it a third time, Dave warns them not to ‘overdo it,’ which prompts another argument. WATCH the cartoon version…
On this day 74 years ago, Robin and Maurice Gibb, the singer-songwriters and producers of The Bee Gees were born, Maurice being the eldest twin by one hour. Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the family moved to Australia and there, along with their brother Barry, they created the trio that became one of the world’s best-selling acts of all time.
Maurice photo by Marccessna, CC licenseProminent in the late 60s and the disco era of the 70s, the group perfected their tight three-part harmonies and wrote all of their own hits, including You Should Be Dancing, Stayin’ Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, If I Can’t Have You, and How Deep Is Your Love. They sold more than 120 million records worldwide and rank third as the most successful band in Billboard chart history after The Beatles and The Supremes. Maurice died in 2003 of a heart attack and Robin died of cancer at age 62 nine years later. During their induction into the Rock Hall of Fame, the presenter of the award to “Britain’s first family of harmony” was Brian Wilson, whose band the Beach Boys also featured three harmonizing brothers. WATCH some clips from their last recording session… (1949)
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