Music History Monday: A Day of First Performances!

Posted by Robert Greenberg on Monday, November 15th, 2021

We will observe the first performances that occurred on this date and contemplate, as well, the nature and reality of a “first performance” in a moment. But first.

I know; I know. We collectively wait, with breaths bated, for today’s “This Day in Musical Stupid.” Sadly, aside from this very post, I have not been able to dig up any particular date-related event that would so qualify. However, I did find a brief but compelling item that qualifies under the heading, “This Day in Musical ENVY”, the envy being my own. Here’s the item.

Elvis Presley and Natalie Wood — Elvis Presley (1935-1977) and Natalie Wood (1938-1981)

On November 15, 1956 – 65 years ago today – the 21-year-old Elvis Presley (1935-1977) celebrated his new-found success by buying himself a brand-new Harley Davidson motorcycle. He spent the remainder of the day tooling around Memphis on his new bike with a “friend” nestled on the seat behind him: the then 18-year-old actress, Natalie Wood (1938-1981).

Okay people: let’s put ourselves in Elvis Presley’s riding boots. Can we imagine being 21 years old, poised at the edge of phenomenal fame and fortune, buying a Harley and driving around town with Natalie Wood’s arms around you, her young, nubile body pressed up around your back? Think about it. “This Day in Envy” is right!

I will now attempt to lower my temperature.

First Performances

We contemplate the nature of a “premiere”: of a “first performance.”

(Having been witness to over 50 premieres of my own, to say nothing of those of my friends and colleagues, I feel this is a subject I can address with some degree of experience.)

I have never jumped from an airplane. I have never surfaced too rapidly from a deep dive. I have never been pregnant and thus have never experienced morning sickness. I have never seen Steve Bannon naked. Nevertheless, I have experienced the nausea and “the bends”-like pain unique to experiencing a premiere of my own work. (I have for decades espoused the placement of a barf-bag under the seat of any composer or playwright about to experience the special “joys” of a premiere performance.)

The older I get, the more I realize that I am no different, better, or worse than the vast majority of human beings going back as far as we please. With slight variations, I am convinced that we all feel the same (momentary) joy and (comparatively sustained) despair, grief, fleeting happiness, fear, giddiness, anxiety, paranoia, pride, embarrassment, anticipation and disappointment, love and dislike, self-love and self-loathing, etc., etc., blah and blah. If the human condition was a house, I would suggest it would be a broken down fixer-upper in need of lots of TLC.

I’ve made these blanket statements about what I perceive to be our shared “condition” in order to support the following observation: I do not believe my physical and emotional reactions to a premiere are particularly different from anyone else’s.

So here’s my personal take on creation, rehearsals, and premieres as they are experienced by composers and playwrights.…

Continue Reading on Patreon

Become a Patron!