Alexander Tcherepnin / My Fair Lady

On this day in classical music: Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin died at age 78 in 1977. The son of Nikolai Tcherepnin (a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), Alexander Tcherepnin moved with his family to Paris in 1921 when Russia’s political situation began to deteriorate. From there, he launched an international career as a pianist and composer. His works for solo piano have remained quite popular among young students. Listen to Rollin Wilber play the first six of Tcherepnin’s Op. 5 “Bagatelles.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYWOmy8zBew

Alexander Tcherepnin

On this day in the musical theatre: Lerner and Loewe’s masterpiece “My Fair Lady” ended its 6 ½-year Broadway run in 1962. A musical setting of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” “My Fair Lady” starred Rex Harrison as the demanding Professor Henry Higgins and Julie Andrews as his reluctant student, the Cockney Eliza Dolittle. “My Fair Lady” took home nine Tony Awards, including one for Harrison, another for Lerner and Loewe’s brilliant score, one for Moss Hart’s direction, most of the technical awards and the final for best musical. It quickly established a place of honor in the history of the musical theater and has frequently been revived. Its last Broadway revival was a 1994 production starring Richard Chamberlain and Melissa Errico as teacher and student, with Julian Holloway (son of Stanley, the original Alfred P. Dolittle) following in his father’s footsteps. Wacth Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn perform “The Rain In Spain” from the film version of “My Fair Lady.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmU3iANbgk