Also in September 1910…
2nd: The French painter Henri Rousseau dies in Paris, aged 66. A self-taught artist who did not take up painting seriously until his 40s, his best-known works such as The Sleeping Gypsy and Tiger in a Tropical Storm were often dismissed by critics but admired by his fellow artists. He was also a keen composer, whose works included Clémence, a waltz for violin and mandolin.
11th: The actor Robert Loraine comes close to making the first successful crossing from Britain to Ireland in a plane. Flying a Farman biplane, he is within sight of the coast at Howth Head when his engine cuts out and he plunges into Dublin Bay. He swims to safety and his plane is later recovered.
12th: Richard Strauss, Saint-saëns and Webern are in the audience as Gustav
Mahler conducts the first performance of his Symphony No. 8 at the Neue Musikfesthalle in Germany. The huge choral and orchestral forces needed to perform it give impresario Emil Gutmann the idea of calling it the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ to help ticket sales, though Mahler doesn’t approve.
22nd: The Duke of York’s Picture House, one of the first cinemas in the world, opens in Brighton. Built on the site of the old Amber Ale Brewery, it is founded by the former actress Violet Melnotte, who is now a leading theatre manager. Melnotte and her husband, actor Frank Wyatt, also own the Duke of
York’s Theatre in the West End.
25th: The New York Times reveals that Puccini’s new opera La Fanciulla del West is to be premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in December. As Puccini is currently the world’s most in-demand opera composer, the premiere is something of a coup for the Met, which is less than 30 years old. A starry cast including soprano Emmy Destinn and tenor Enrico Caruso is lined up for the production.