- Otto Nicolai
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Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor). In addition to five operas, Nicolai composed lieder, works for orchestra, chorus, ensemble, and solo instruments.
Contents
Biography
Nicolai, a child prodigy, was born in Königsberg, Prussia. While still a youth he ran away from his home and parents and secured himself as a student of Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. After initial successes in Germany, including his first Symphony (1831) and public concerts, he became musician to the Prussian Embassy in Rome. During the early 1840s he established himself as a major figure in the concert life of Vienna. In 1844 he was offered the position, vacated by Felix Mendelssohn, of Kapellmeister at the Berlin Cathedral; but he did not reestablish himself in Berlin until the last year of his life. On 11 May 1849, two months after the premiere of The Merry Wives of Windsor, and only two days after his appointment as Hofkapellmeister at the Berlin Staatsoper, he collapsed and died from a stroke. On the very same day of his death, he was elected a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts.
Works
Operas
Title Genre Subdivisions Libretto Composition Première date Place, theatre La figlia abbandonata 1837 unfinished Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (given at the first performance as: Enrico II) melodramma serio 2 acts Felice Romani 1837–1838 26 November 1839 Trieste, Teatro Grande Il templario melodramma 3 acts Girolamo Maria Marini, after Walter Scott 1839–1840 11 February 1840 Turin, Teatro Regio Gildippe ed Odoardo melodramma 3 acts Temistocle Solera 1840 26 December 1840 Genoa Il proscritto 3 acts Gaetano Rossi 1841 13 March 1841 Milan, La Scala Die Heimkehr des Verbannten (revision of Il proscritto) tragische Oper 3 acts Siegfried Kapper 1843 3 February 1844 Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor Der Tempelritter (revision of Il templario) 3 acts Siegfried Kapper 1845 20 December 1845 Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor komische-fantastische Oper 3 acts Salomon Hermann Mosenthal, after William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor 1845–1846 9 March 1849 Berlin, Hofopera Other
- 6 four-part unaccompanied lieder, Op. 6
- Variazioni concertanti su motivi favoriti dell'opera La sonnambula di Bellini, Op. 26, for soprano, horn and piano (or cello or clarinet) (republished in 2000 by edition mf)
- Die Thräne, Op. 30, (voice, horn and piano; republished in 1999 by "edition mf").
- Ecclesiastical Festival Overture on the chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", Op. 31
- Pater noster, Op. 33, for two mixed choirs (SATB/SATB) a cappella with soloists (SATB/SATB). Published by Schott Music in 1999.
- Der dritte Psalm (Psalm 3) for alto solo. (Manuscript at Library of Congress.)
- 3 sonatas for 2 horns: from the Handel Knot-Farquharson Cousins ms (re(?)published by Edition Kunzelmann in 1977.)
- Mass in D major (1832/1845). (Recorded on the label Koch Schwann in 1981, subsequently reissued on compact disc. Re?Published by Augsburg : A. Böhm in 1986.)
- Te Deum; Psalm 97, Der Herr ist König; Psalm 31, Herr, auf Dich traue ich; Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe (psalm and liturgical settings recorded also on Koch Schwann. Te Deum was also recorded on Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft LPM 39,170 in 1966.) Psalms 31 & 97 published by Bote & Bock of Berlin in 1977.
- two symphonies: No. 1 (1831) and No. 2 in D (1835, rev. 1845)
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Nicolai Otto". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Otto_Nicolai.
- Nicolai, Otto; Schröder, B., ed. (1892) (in German). Otto Nicolais Tagebücher nebst biographischen Ergänzungen. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. OCLC 17601836.
- Nicolai, Otto; Altmann Wilhelm, ed. (1924) (in German). Otto Nicolai, Briefe an seinen Vater, soweit erhalten. Regensburg: G. Bosse. OCLC 3463501.
- Sadie, Stanley; Brown, Clive, ed. (1992). Nicolai, Carl Otto Ehrenfried in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Grove's Dictionaries of Music. ISBN 0-333-73432-7.
External links
- Otto Nicolai at Allmusic
- Otto Nicolai operas at Karadar.com
- Otto Nicolai biography and timeline at MusicWeb Classpedia
- Free scores by Otto Nicolai at the International Music Score Library Project
Vienna Philharmonic Subscription Conductors Otto Nicolai (1842) · Karl Anton Eckert (1854) · Felix Otto Dessoff (1860) · Hans Richter (1875) · Wilhelm Jahn (1882) · Hans Richter (1883) · Gustav Mahler (1898) · Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. (1901) · Felix Weingartner (1908) · Wilhelm Furtwängler (1927) · Clemens Krauss (1929)
Berlin Staatsoper General Music Directors Johannes Wesalius (1572) • Johannes Eccard (1609) • Nikolaus Zangius (1612) • William Brade (1618) • Johann Friedrich Agricola (1759) • Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1775) • Bernhard Anselm Weber (1816) • Gaspare Spontini (1820) • Giacomo Meyerbeer (1842) • Otto Nicolai (1848) • Robert Radecke (1871) • Joseph Sucher (1888) • Richard Strauss (1899) • Leo Blech (1913) • Erich Kleiber (1923) • Clemens Krauss (1935) • Herbert von Karajan (1941) • Joseph Keilberth (1948) • Erich Kleiber (1951) • Franz Konwitschny (1955) • Otmar Suitner (1964) • Daniel Barenboim (1992)
Categories:- 1810 births
- 1849 deaths
- People from Königsberg
- Opera composers
- German composers
- German conductors (music)
- Romantic composers
- Music directors of the Berlin State Opera
- Deaths from stroke
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