by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
At noon, the Tri-C Classical Piano Series presents Lang Lang’s “101 Pianists” keyboard extravaganza at its Metro Campus.
This evening’s performances include the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra (7:30 in Finney Chapel), the Oberlin Collegium Musicum (7:30 in Fairchild Chapel), and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra with competition winner cellist Elena Ziegler (8 pm at Severance).
For details of these and other performances, visit our Concert Listings.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
On this date in 1844, British impresario and composer Richard D’Oyly Carte was born in London.
Founder of London’s Savoy Theatre and the Royal Opera House (now the Palace Theatre), he formed a syndicate to stage productions of Gilbert and Sullivan at the London Opéra-Comique Theatre. Carte introduced many improvements in theatrical management, including the replacement of gaslight by electric illumination.
To learn more about the D’Oyly Carte dynasty, visit The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, a treasure trove of information which notes that
His father, Richard Carte, was a flautist and musical instrument manufacturer. The “D’Oyly,” a Norman French name, came from his mother’s side of the family. He remains a shadowy figure in the background of the Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte partnership. Little about his life or personality is known. Yet Richard D’Oyly Carte was a man of extraordinary vision, a talented musician and his business acumen set up a company which made him a richer man than his partners. He died on 3rd April 1901.
On June 26, 1979, Wooster’s Ohio Light Opera launched its premiere season with a production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “last great success,” The Gondoliers. The company will revisit that show this summer. Click here for more information and tickets.
