March 20 — On This Day in Opera

First performance of "Les femmes vengées" (opéra-comique) by François-André Danican Philidor (libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine) at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris.

Birth of Italian operatic tenor Beniamino Gigli.

Birth of Danish-U.S. Wagnerian tenor Lauritz Melchior.

Metropolitan Opera presented the company premiere (and a new production) of Ernest Reyer’s "Salammbô" at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Death of American mezzo-soprano and opera administrator Risë Stevens.

Death of Romanian-born soprano Virginia Zeani.