Music History on April 22

Rossini's Early Performance

1804 Gioachino Rossini performs as a singer in Imola, Italy, aged only 12 years old

Swan Lake Completed

1876 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completes his ballet "Swan Lake"

1927 Roger Sessions' 1st Symphony in E premieres with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra
1970 Lance Mulcahy and Paul Cherry's musical "Park" opens at John Golden Theater, NYC; runs for 5 performances
1978 23rd Eurovision Song Contest: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta for Israel wins singing "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" in Paris

Rolling Stones Benefit Concerts

1979 The Rolling Stones play two benefit concerts for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, in Oshawa, Ontario; performance part of guitarist Keith Richards’ sentence for heroin conviction on heroin charges

1989 "Welcome to the Club" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 12 performances
1990 "Truly Blessed" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 33 performances

The Who's Tommy

1993 Pete Townshend's rock musical "The Who's Tommy" adapted for theatrical stage, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 899 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy Award