Music History on December 28

Rossini Moves to Bolongna

1821 Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini moves to Bologna, Papal States

  • 1910 Englebert Humperdink's opera "Konigskinder" premiers at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City

"T"ip-Toes

1925 George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's musical "Tip-Toes" opened at the Liberty Theatre, NYC; runs for 192 performances

"Antigone"

1927 Arthur Honegger's opera "Antigone" premieres with a libretto by Jean Cocteau, sets by Pablo Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels

  • 1928 Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues" makes her last record - "Big Feelin' Blues"

"On the Town"

1944 Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolf Green's musical "On the Town", with choreography by Jerome Robbins, opens at the Adelphi Theater, NYC; runs for 462 performances

  • 1958 "The Chipmunk Song" by the Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hits #1
  • 1963 "Double Dublin" closes at Little Theater, NYC, after 4 performances

Musical Finale

1963 Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's musical "Jennie", starring Mary Martin, closes at the Majestic Theater, NYC, after 82 performances

"Sing a Sad Song"

1963 Merle Haggard's 1st appearance on country music chart with "Sing a Sad Song"

The Execution of Stepan Razin

1964 Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's cantata "The Execution of Stepan Razin"

Miami Pop Festival

1968 100,000 attend Miami Pop Festival in Florida; performers included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Mothers of Invention; Chuck Berry; John Lee Hooker; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown; and Blues Image

  • 1968 The Beatles' "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks
  • 1970 Stan Freeman and Franklin Underwood's musical "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen", based on John Patrick's novel "The Teahouse of the August Moon", opens at the Majestic Theatre, NYC; runs for 19 performances
  • 1975 1st broadcast of Dutch public radio service Hilversum IV; programming chiefly classical music

Music Premiere

1976 Revival of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical "Fiddler on the Roof", starring Zero Mostel, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 167 performances

Bocelli's Debut

1993 Andrea Bocelli makes his classical debut singing at a concert at Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia, Italy

Tammy Wynette Hospitalized

1994 American country singer Tammy Wynette admitted to the hospital with bile duct infection