A very happy birthday to the mezzo Della Jones!

Heavenly Margaret ... Today would have been the 83rd birthday of the great Welsh soprano Margaret Price.

The sixth and last of Richard Rodney Bennett’s operas, Victory – based on Joseph Conrad – was premiered at the ⁦Royal Opera House⁩ Covent Garden #OTD in 1970.

An opera of our time, even more now than then: Luigi Nono’s socially committed ‘azione scenica’ Intolleranza was premiered in Venice ⁦Teatro La Fenice⁩ #OTD in 1961.

Here comes the bride: Busoni’s first completed opera, Die Brautwahl was premiered in Hamburg ⁦⁦Staatsoper Hamburg⁩ #OTD in 1912, with Elisabeth Schumann leading the cast.

The Ukrainian-born American-naturalized soprano Beata Malkin — who specialized in Verdi and Tchaikovsky roles — was born in Odesa #OTD in 1892.

Buon compleanno, Mariella Devia!

Wishing the conductor David Agler, the former artistic director of ⁦WexfordFestivalOpera⁩, a very happy birthday!

Wishing Christophe Rousset, the founder of ⁦Talens Lyriques⁩⁩, a very happy birthday!

Wishing the Czech mezzo-soprano Věra Soukupová a very happy 92nd birthday!

Today would have been Montserrat Caballé’s 91st birthday.

Posthumous premiere: Janáček’s From the House of the Dead was first performed in Brno ⁦Národní divadlo Brno⁩ #OTD in 1930.

Di Provenza … Lily Pons, the ⁦Metropolitan Opera⁩’s great coloratura star of the mid 20th century, was born in Draguignan #OTD in 1898.

Ruler of this awful hour … Weber’s Oberon was premiered in London ⁦Royal Opera House⁩⁩ #OTD in 1826.

Alevtina Ioffe will succeed Nicholas Carter as chief conductor of Oper Bern in summer 2025.

Wishing ⁦Danielle de Niese⁩ a very happy birthday!

Wishing the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky ⁦Sondra Radvanovsky⁩ a very happy birthday!

The great Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera - whose output includes three important operas - was born in Buenos Aires #OTD in 1916.

The great scenographer Caspar Neher was born #OTD in 1897. A close collaborator with Bertolt Brecht - designing the premieres of Threepenny Opera and Mahagonny among others - he also designed the ⁦Glyndebourne⁩ Macbeth in 1938.

Thanks to ⁦Opera Rara⁩ and ⁦WexfordFestivalOpera⁩, no longer forgotten: Ambroise Thomas’s utterly charming La Cour de Célimène was premiered in Paris ⁦Opéra-Comique⁩ #OTD in 1855.