Manuel de Falla / Fiorello
On this day in classical music: Spanish composer Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz in 1876. His first important work was the one-act opera “La vida breve” (The Brief Life), written in 1905 and further revised before its 1913 premiere. Other notable works among his musical output are “Nights in the Gardens of Spain,” a nocturne for piano and orchestra; the ballet “El amor brujo” (Love the Magician) which contains the popular “Ritual Fire Dance,” and the ballet “The Three-Cornered Hat.” Listen to Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform the “Ritual Fire Dance.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUir35l5y8U
On this day in the musical theatre: “Fiorello!,” a musical biography of one-time New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, opened on Broadway in 1959. Featuring a score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, “Fiorello!” told the story of how La Guardia reformed city politics by bringing to an end Tammany Hall’s well-oiled political machine. The musical was partly inspired by the 1955 book “Life With Fiorello.” The musical opened in the same season as “The Sound of Music” and tied with the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic as best musical. Tom Bosley won a supporting actor Tony for his role as the title character. “Fiorello!” also earned the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1960. Listen to Bosley and company perform “The Name’s LaGuardia.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbmS1YLFp-I
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