Topic: CLASSICALmanac.com
1971 Birth of virtuoso classical pianist Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (Russian Евге́ний И́горевич Ки́син, Evge'nij I'gorevič Ki'sin) in Moscow. 
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1835 Birth in Paris of French composer, conductor and pianist Camille (kah ME') SAINT-SAENS (Sah Sahnz) .
They got their maestro. He got his orchestra. And Detroit has a new musical leader, whose reputation stretches from the American heartland to the music capitals of Europe and the Far East. Leonard Slatkin, 63, one of the most gifted American conductors of his generation, has been named the 12th music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after a five-year search. Slatkin, the first American-born conductor to lead the orchestra in 60 years, succeeds Neeme Järvi, who stepped down in 2005. 
For concert pianists who only really need to see the conductor, traditional lids work well. But for pianists who also conduct from the keyboard, traditional lids block their view of half of the orchestra. Removing the lid clears the line of sight, but then the sound is no longer directed toward the audience. 
1930 Birth of Japanese composer Toru TAKEMITSU in Tokyo. d-Tokyo, 20 FEB 1996. 
Canadian tenor Gary Rideout, an opera singer who performed on stages around the world, has died. The New Brunswick-born singer died 29 SEP 2007, after a brief, unexpected illness. He was 55. Rideout, was one of the finest operatic singing actors, won praise not only for the power, beauty and clarity of his voice, but for his incredible interpretive ability. In 2000-2001, Mr. Rideoout made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Bussoni's Doktor Faust, followed by Lulu and The Gambler. The following season, he returned to the Met to sing the Prince, Marquis and Manservant in Lulu, with James Levine conducting (radio broadcast) and to sing in War and Peace. Gary's exemplary work in the two Prokofiev operas led to his being invited by Valery Gergiev to sing Siegfried for the Kirov Opera. Mr. Rideout sang both the premiere of Siegfried and of Gotterdamerung at the Mariinsky Theatre with Maestro Gergiev conducting, during the 2002-2003 season, an experience that Gary claims was both life changing and affirming. That same year, Gary sang the world premiere of Deborah Drattel's opera Nicholas and Alexandra with Los Angeles Opera, Rostropovich conducting; Der Liebe der Danae at the Concergebouw, Edo de Waart conducting; Die Fledermaus with Utah Opera and the role of The Tempter/Abbott at the Benjamin Britten Festival in Ontario, Canada. 
1955 Birth of Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo MA in Paris, France. 
Like Beethoven’s Ninth, it began as a soft hum. A buzz, almost. Then, crescendo! Now it’s loud, the local flap over the national media blitz surrounding Marin Alsop’s appointment as music director of the Baltimore Symphony. A big story Monday in the New York Times trumpeted that Alsop was “the first woman to lead a major American orchestra.” What about JoAnn Falletta? Buffalonians want answers. In 1998, Falletta made news when she was named music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. At the time, the Associated Press said she was the first woman to take the helm of a world-class orchestra. 
1927 Birth of Austrian pianist Paul BADURA-SKODA in Vienna. 