Otto Nicolai
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.
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 |
Figlia abbandonataLa figlia abbandonata |
|
|
|
1837 |
unfinished |
|
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (given at the first performance as: Enrico II) |
melodramma serio |
2 acts |
RomaniFelice Romani |
1837–1838 |
1839-11-2626 November 1839 |
Trieste, Teatro Grande |
TemplarioIl templario |
melodramma |
3 acts |
MariniGirolamo Maria Marini, after Walter Scott |
1839–1840 |
1840-02-1111 February 1840 |
Turin, Teatro Regio |
Gildippe ed Odoardo |
melodramma |
3 acts |
SoleraTemistocle Solera |
1840 |
1840-12-2626 December 1840 |
Genoa |
ProscrittoIl proscritto |
|
3 acts |
RossiGaetano Rossi |
1841 |
1841-03-1313 March 1841 |
Milan, La Scala |
Heimkehr des VerbanntenDie Heimkehr des Verbannten (revision of Il proscritto) |
tragische Oper |
3 acts |
KapperSiegfried Kapper |
1843 |
1844-02-033 February 1844 |
Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor |
TempelritterDer Tempelritter (revision of Il templario) |
|
3 acts |
KapperSiegfried Kapper |
1845 |
1845-12-2020 December 1845 |
Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor |
LustigenDie lustigen Weiber von Windsor |
komische-fantastische Oper |
3 acts |
MosenthalSalomon Hermann Mosenthal, after William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor |
1845–1846 |
1849-03-099 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
Persondata |
Name |
Nicolai, Otto |
Alternative names |
|
Short description |
|
Date of birth |
9 June 1810 |
Place of birth |
|
Date of death |
11 May 1849 |
Place of death |
|