1961 - Music

Music

Hollywood musicals: Robert Wise's West Side Story with Natalie Wood, Puerto Rico-born actress Rita Moreno, 29, Richard Beymer, choreography by Jerome Robbins.

Stage musicals: Carnival 4/13 at New York's Imperial Theater, with Italian-born singer Anna Maria Alberghetti, 24, Kaye Ballard, Jerry Orbach, music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, 719 perfs.; Belle: or The Ballad of Doctor Crippen 5/4 at London's Strand Theatre, with Rose Hill, George Benson, music and lyrics by Monty Norman, book by Wolf Mankowitz; Stop the World I Want to Get Off 7/23 at the Queen's Theatre, London, with Anthony Newley, 29, as Littlechap, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, 30, and Newley, songs that include "Gonna Build Me a Mountain," "Once in a Lifetime," "What Kind of Fool Am I?" 485 perfs.; Wildest Dreams 8/3 at London's Vaudeville Theatre, with Dorothy Reynolds, music by Julian Slade, book and lyrics by Slade and Reynolds, songs that include "There's a Place We Know," 76 perfs.; Milk and Honey 10/10 at New York's Martin Beck Theater, with Robert Weede, onetime Metropolitan Opera soprano Mimi Benzell, now 40, veteran Yiddish Theater veteran Molly Picon, now 64, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, 543 perfs.; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying 10/14 at New York's 46th Street Theater, with Robert Morse, 30, Rudy Vallée, Virginia Martin, book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert based on the book by Shepherd Mead, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, songs that include "I Believe in You," "Grand Old Ivy," "Brotherhood of Man," 1,417 perfs.; 101 in the Shade 10/24 at New York's Broadhurst Theater, with Will Geer, Inga Swenson, Gretchen Cryer, dancer George Church, New York-born ingénue Lesley Ann Warren, 17, book by N. Richard Nash based on his play The Rainmaker, music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tom Jones, choreography by Agnes De Mille, 330 perfs.; Subways Are for Sleeping 12/27 at New York's St. James Theater, with Sydney Chaplin, Illinois-born singer Carol Lawrence (Carol Maria Laraia), 27, Vermont-born actor Orson Bean (Dallas Burrows), 34, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs that include "Comes Once in a Lifetime," 205 perfs.

Musical stage veteran Jack Whiting dies at New York February 15 at age 59.

Opera: Tenor Franco Corelli makes his Metropolitan Opera debut 1/27 at age 39 singing the role of Maurice in the 1853 Verdi opera Il Trovatore with soprano Leontyne Price, now 34, in the role of Leonora; it is Price's Met debut and she receives a 45-minute ovation. The seventh black woman to debut at the Met, she will be the first to achieve worldwide status as "prima donna assoluta"; Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, 25, makes his debut 4/29 at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia singing the role of Rodolfo in the 1896 Puccini opera La Bohème; Brooklyn, N.Y.-born soprano Evelyn Lear (née Shulman), 35, creates the title role in Giselher Kleber's opera Alkmene at the Deutsches Oper; English soprano Elizabeth (Jean) Harwood, 23, makes her operatic debut at Glyndebourne in the 1791 Mozart opera Die Zauberflöte and joins the Sadler's Wells company; Phyllis Curtin makes her Metropolitan Opera debut 11/4 at age 38 singing the role of Fiordiligi in the 1791 Mozart opera Cosí Fan Tutte.

Ballet: Soviet dancer Rudolf Hametovich Nureyev, 23, of the Kirov Ballet defects to the West June 16. Paris critics have compared him to the late Nijinsky, but KGB agents observed him socializing with French friends, the KGB ordered the Soviet Embassy at Paris to send him back to Moscow June 3, Kirov officials have ignored two orders for his return, but Nureyev is then told that his mother is gravely ill, he realizes that if he returns he will never again be allowed to leave the country, and he flies to London with a refugee visa; Cincinnati-born ballerina Suzanne Farrell (originally Roberta Sue Ficker), 16, makes her debut with the New York City Ballet. A protégée of George Balanchine, she will dance in many of his works.

English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, 16, makes her professional debut in March at London's Wigmore Hall playing a 1672 Stradivarius cello that has been presented to her anonymously.

Oratorio: Jacob's Ladder (Die Jakobsleiter) by the late Arnold Schoenberg 6/17 at Vienna.

First performances: Gloria by Francis Poulenc 1/20 at Boston's Symphony Hall; Symphony No. 7 by Walter Piston 2/10 at Philadelphia's Academy of Music; Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki 5/31 on Warsaw radio; Symphonies for Solo Piano with Harps and Percussion by Elisabeth Lutyens 7/28 at the Proms (commissioned by the BBC, it has been written with the peculiar acoustics of the Albert Hall in mind); Symphony No. 12 (The Year 1917) by Dmitri Shostakovich 10/9 at Leningrad.

Composer Percy Grainger dies at White Plains, N.Y., February 20 at age 78; conductor Sir Thomas Beecham of a cerebral thrombosis at London March 8 at age 81; composer Arnold Schoenberg at Los Angeles July 13 at age 86.

Popular songs: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" by Pete Seeger with anti-war lyrics inspired by the 1934 Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (plus fourth and fifth verses by Joe Hickerson, 26); A Maid of Constant Sorrow (album) by Seattle-born guitarist-singer-songwriter Judy (Judith Marjorie) Collins, 22, includes "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "I Know Where I'm Going"; "The Girl from Ipanema" by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Brasiliero de Almeida Jobim, 34, lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes (Norman Gimbel will write English lyrics); "Moon River" by Cleveland-born composer Enrico "Henry" Mancini, 37, lyrics by Johnny Mercer (for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's); "It Was a Very Good Year" by Ervin Drake; "Running Scared," "Crying," and "I'm Hurting" by Roy Orbison; "Gypsy Woman" by Chicago-born rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter Curtis Mayfield, 19; The Village Vanguard Sessions (album) is recorded live at New York in June pianist Bill Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian; Aretha (album) by Memphis-born soul singer Aretha (Louise) Franklin, 19; "Bye Bye Baby" by Motown songwriter-singer Mary Wells, 18; Nina Simone records the blues song "Trouble in Mind" and begins to make herself the poet of the civil-rights movement; "Walk on By" by Kentucky songwriter Kendall L. Hayes, 36; Ray Charles records the rhythm-and-blues song "Hit the Road Jack" and has another huge hit; "Right or Wrong" by Wanda Jackson; "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and "Up on the Roof" by Brooklyn, N.Y.-born songwriter Carole King (Carole Klein), 19, and her husband, lyricist Jerry Goffin, 22; Gladys Knight, now 18, and the Pips record "Every Beat of My Heart"; Anita O'Day records "All The Sad Young Men"; "Mister Oliver Twist" by Rod McKuen, lyrics by Gladys Shelly; "Crazy" by Willie Nelson, whose song is recorded by Patsy Cline (her song "I Fall to Pieces" is also a hit); Hi, We're the Miracles (album) by Smokey Robinson's 6-year-old Detroit vocal group, whose 1960 single "Shop Around" became the first Motown Corp. record to have sales of more than 1 million copies.

The Temptations vocal group has its beginnings in a Detroit soul music group (the Elgins) created by a marriage of two other groups (the Primes and the Distants) with members who will soon include Texarkana-born baritone Otis Williams (originally Otis Miles), 21; Birmingham, Ala.,-born harmony singer Paul Williams, 22; Montgomery, Ala.-born bass Melvin Franklin (originally David English), 18; Union Springs, Ala.-born lead singer Eddie Kendricks, 21; Meridian, Miss.-born lead singer David (originally Davis Eli) Ruffin, 20; Birmingham-born Dennis Edwards, 18; and Smokey Robinson, now 21, who writes for the Miracles as well as the Temptations.

The Supremes sign a contract with Berry Gordy's 4-year-old Motown Corp. and cut their first records. Originally called the Primettes, Detroit singers Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard are still in their teens, but Ross's friend Smokey Robinson has introduced them to Gordy, and as The Supremes they will make eight gold records in less than 2 years and have seven top records.

Hibbing, Minn.-born folk singer Bob Dylan debuts September 26 at a Greenwich Village, New York, coffeehouse. Now 20, he has changed his name from Robert Zimmerman in honor of the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas; Columbia Records vice president John Hammond discovers him and releases his first album. Dylan will provide civil-rights demonstrators and student protest movements of the 1960s with their anthems "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times, They Are A-Changin'."

Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz arrives at New York speaking only Spanish and pursues the career that will make her a worldwide star (see 1960). Never revealing her age, she wears form-fitting gowns and extravagant wigs, shrieks "azucar," and makes an instant hit with the city's Puerto Rican community.

Songwriter Douglas Furber dies at London February 19 at age 75; Joe E. Howard gives a benefit performance at Chicago's Opera House May 19, sings "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," collapses on stage, and dies of cardiac arrest at age 83.

The Dave Clark Five organized by London-born producer Clark, 18, includes lead singer-pianist-organist Mike Smith, 17; saxophonist-harmonica player-acoustic guitarist-vocalist Denis Payton, 18; bass-acoustic guitarist-vocalist Rick Huxley, 17, and acoustic guitarist-vocalist Lenny Davidson, 17;

The 10-member South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo begins performing a capella songs in Zulu about daily life.

North Carolina-born jazz saxophonist John William Coltrane gains his first wide acclaim at age 35 with a December 1 recording of his John Coltrane Quartet.