July 26 — On This Day in Opera

German operatic bass Ignaz Saal, the original Don Fernando in the 1814 premiere of Beethoven's "Fidelio" and a performer in the premieres of Haydn's "Die Schöpfung" and "Die Jahreszeiten", was born in Geiselhöring.

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, whose play "Pygmalion" became the basis for Frederick Loewe's opera-inspired musical and whose "Arms and the Man" inspired Oscar Straus's opera "Der tapfere Soldat", was born in Dublin.

Birth of Italian opera composer Francesco Cilea in Palmi, Calabria, best known for the operas *Adriana Lecouvreur* and *L’Arlesiana*.

First complete performance (world premiere) of Wagner’s final opera "Parsifal" at the Bayreuth Festival, conducted under the composer's supervision.

Italian conductor Gino Marinuzzi, an important interpreter of Wagner, Verdi, and the Italian operatic repertory who conducted at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, was born in Palermo.

The Glyndebourne Festival presented its first complete staging of Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", establishing a cornerstone of the festival's repertoire.

Benjamin Britten's opera "Death in Venice" received its United States premiere at the Santa Fe Opera.