Music History on January 28

  • 1830 Opera "Fra Diavolo" by Daniel Auber, premieres in Paris
  • 1916 Opera "Goyescas" premieres in New York City

Shostakovich Opera Criticized

1936 Pravda criticizes Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"

  • 1942 Revival of George Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" opens on The Majestic Theatre, NYC, with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan

"Jeremiah"

1944 Leonard Bernstein's "Jeremiah" premieres in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • 1948 David Diamond's 4th Symphony, dedicated to Natalie Koussevitzky, premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Elvis's 1st TV Appearance

1956 Elvis Presley's 1st appearance on national TV on the Dorsey Brothers's "Stage Show"

"Tonight! America After Dark"

1957 "Tonight! America After Dark" premieres, with Jack Lescoulie & Al (Jazzbo) Collins on NBC (between Steve Allen & Jack Paar)

"La fille mal gardée"

1960 New version of "La fille mal gardée" (1789) choreographed by Frederick Ashton debuts with the Royal Ballet with Nadia Nerina debuts at Covent Garden, London

  • 1963 "Still" single released by Bill Anderson (Billboard No. 1 U.S. Hot Country Singles, 1963)
  • 1965 "The Who" make their 1st appearance on British television programme "Ready Steady Go!"
  • 1979 Charlie Smalls' musical "The Wiz", an updated take on "The Wizard of Oz", starring Stephanie Mills, Stu Gilliam, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, closes at Majestic Theater in NYC, after 1,672 performances, 7 Tony and 6 Drama Desk Awards
  • 1981 Revival of Brt Kalmar and Harry Ruby's musical "The Five5 O'Clock Girl" opens at Helen Hayes Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances

"We Are the World"

1985 Charity single "We Are the World" recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)

  • 1986 "Uptown... It's Hot!" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 24 performances
  • 1988 South African Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masekela's musical "Sarafina!", based on the Soweto Uprising against apartheid, opens at the Cort Theater, NYC; runs for 597 performances
  • 1996 Revival of Jerry Herman's musical "Hello Dolly!", starring Carol Channing, closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC, after 118 performances

"Miss Saigon"

2001 Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's musical "Miss Saigon", based on Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly, and starring Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 4,092 performances and 3 Tony Award wins

60th Grammy Awards

2018 60th Grammy Awards: Bruno Mars wins Best Song "That's What I Like," and Best Album "24K Magic"

  • 2024 100 Ballads names "The Wandring Prince of Troy" the most popular ballad of the 17th century in project documenting “the earliest form of commercial pop music in England" [1]