January 8 Dateline

Birthdays

1812 - Sigismond Thalberg, Swedish composer, one of the most famous virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Sadly, his fame had come to depend on his association with a single piano technique, the 'three-hand effect'. Carl Friedrich Weitzmann, in his Geschichte des Klavierspiels (1879), wrote about this. 'His bravura pieces, fantasies on melodies from Rossini's Mosè and La donna del lago, on motifs from Bellini's Norma and on Russian folk-songs, became extraordinarily popular through his own, brilliant execution; however, they treat their subjects always in one and the same way, [namely] ... to let the tones of a melody be played in the medium octave of the keyboard now by the thumb of the right, now of the left hand, while the rest of the fingers are executing arpeggios filling the whole range of the keyboard'.  (Thalberg Moses Fantasy. YouTube, uploaded by alkanliszt. Accessed January 8, 2021.)

1867 - Emily Greene Balch, American economist, sociologist, pacifist. Balch combined an academic career at Wellesley College with a long-standing interest in social issues such as poverty, child labor, and immigration, as well as settlement work to uplift poor immigrants and reduce juvenile delinquency. She moved into the peace movement at the start of World War I in 1914, and began collaborating with Jane Addams of Chicago. She became a central leader of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) based in Switzerland, for which she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946.

1924 - Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick), English actor, singer, composer and writer best known for his portrayal of Fagin in Oliver! (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for the film, as well as a Tony Award nomination for the stage production. Other notable projects include The Mouse on the Moon, Mel Brooks's The Twelve Chairs and Flight of the Doves, in which Moody shared the screen with Oliver! co-star Jack Wild.

1935 - Elvis Aaron Presley, American singer and actor, regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King". His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across colour lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to great success.

1937 - Shirley Bassey, DBE, Welsh singer, best known for her powerful voice and recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger theme song live at Royal Albert Hall, uploaded by BronzeVenus. Accessed January 8 2009.

1942 - Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. He was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death, March 14, 2018.

1947 - David Bowie (born David Robert Jones), English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. His record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and released eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and named him the "Greatest Rock Star Ever" following his death in 2016.

Leftie:
Singer David Bowie

More birthdays and historical events, January 8 - On This Day

 

 

Features: Composer Sigismond Thalberg and Elvis Presley

Sigismond Thalberg's Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 5. Francesco Nicolosi (pianist), with Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Mogrelia. 





Elvis Presley singing "My Way"

Historical Events

1705 - G.F. Handel's first opera, Almira, with German and Italian arias, is first performed, in Hamburg.

1889 - Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine, developed to process data for the 1890 U.S. Census. The 1880 census had taken seven years to tabulate.

1906 - Artur Rubinstein makes his New York debut as soloist in the piano concerto of Saint-Saens.

1958 - Fourteen-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the U.S. Chess Championship.


Video Credit:

Elvis Presley "My Way" at YouTube, uploaded by elvispresleytube. Accessed January 8, 2014.
Sigismond Thalberg - Plays Piano Concerto in F-minor, Op. 5. YouTube, uploaded by KuhlauDilfeng2.  Accessed January 8, 2018. 



Resources:

1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)

2. Britannica. www.britannica.com
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org


 

(c) June 2007. Updated January 8, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.