Pierre Monteux (1875–1964) was a French (later American) conductor,
who directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century.
After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and
occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements
in 1907. He came to prominence when he conducted the world premieres of
ballets such as The Rite of Spring, Daphnis et Chloé, and Jeux. From
1917 to 1919 he was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at
the Metropolitan Opera. He then led the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the
Concertgebouw Orchestra (1924–34), Orchestre Symphonique de Paris
(1929–38), San Francisco Symphony (1936–52), and from 1961, aged
eighty-six, the London Symphony Orchestra. Monteux's chief love was the
music of German composers, above all Brahms. He disliked recording,
finding it incompatible with spontaneity, but made a substantial number
of records. He began to teach conducting in Paris in 1932. After moving
permanently to the US in 1942, he founded the Pierre Monteux School in
Hancock, Maine, which has continued. His students included Igor
Markevitch, Neville Marriner, André Previn, Lorin Maazel and Seiji
Ozawa.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Monteux>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1653:
The Westminster Assembly of Divines, assembled to restructure
the Church of England, held its first meeting in Westminster Abbey,
London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Assembly>
1782:
American Revolutionary War: Five American privateer vessels
attacked the British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia_(1782)>
1916:
First World War: The first day of the Battle of Albert, the
opening phase of the Battle of the Somme, became the bloodiest day in
the history of the British Army, with 57,470 casualties of which 19,240
were killed or died of wounds.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albert_(1916)>
1960:
Ghana became a republic with Kwame Nkrumah as its first
president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah>
2002:
Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 collided in
mid-air over the towns of Owingen and Überlingen in Germany, killing
all 71 people aboard both aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
scuppernong:
1. A large greenish-bronze grape native to the Southeastern United States,
a variety of the muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia).
2. A sweet, golden or amber-colored American wine made from this variety of
grape.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scuppernong>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 If an angel were ever to tell us anything of his philosophy
I believe many propositions would sound like 2 times 2 equals 13.
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg>