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Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor as Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. In addition to five operas, Nicolai composed lieder, works for orchestra, chorus, ensemble, and solo instruments.[1]

Otto Nicolai
Otto Nicolai

Biography


Nicolai, a child prodigy, was born in Königsberg, Prussia. He received his first musical education from his father, Carl Ernst Daniel Nicolai, who was also a composer and musical director. During his childhood his parents divorced, and while still a youth, early in June 1826, Nicolai ran away from his parents' "loveless" home,[2] taking refuge in Stargard with a senior legal official called August Adler who treated the musical prodigy like a son and, when Nikolai was seventeen, sent him to Berlin to study with Carl Friedrich Zelter.[citation needed]

After initial successes in Germany, including his first symphony (1831) and public concerts, he became musician to the Prussian embassy in Rome. When Verdi declined the libretto of Il proscritto by the proprietors of La Scala in Milan, it was offered instead to Nicolai. Later, Nicolai refused a libretto by the same author, and it went to Verdi, whose Nabucco was his first early success. All of Nicolai's operas were originally written in Italian, the sole exception being his last and best known opera, The Merry Wives of Windsor, written in German. At one time he was even more popular in Italy than Verdi.[3]

During the early 1840s, Nicolai 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.[citation needed]

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 same day of his death, he was elected a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts.[citation needed]

Nicolai was portrayed by Hans Nielsen in the 1940 film Falstaff in Vienna.


Works



Operas


TitleGenreSub­divisionsLibrettoCompositionPremière datePlace, theatre
La figlia abbandonata  1837unfinished 
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (given at the first performance as: Enrico II)melodramma serio2 actsFelice Romani1837–183826 November 1839Trieste, Teatro Grande
Il templariomelodramma3 actsGirolamo Maria Marini, after Walter Scott1839–184011 February 1840Turin, Teatro Regio
Gildippe ed Odoardomelodramma3 actsTemistocle Solera184026 December 1840Genoa
Il proscritto 3 actsGaetano Rossi184113 March 1841Milan, La Scala
Die Heimkehr des Verbannten (revision of Il proscritto)tragische Oper3 actsSiegfried Kapper18433 February 1844Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
Der Tempelritter (revision of Il templario) 3 actsSiegfried Kapper184520 December 1845Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
Die lustigen Weiber von Windsorkomische-fantastische Oper3 actsSalomon Hermann Mosenthal, after William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor1845–18469 March 1849Berlin, Hofoper

Other



Songs and duets



Works for piano



References


Notes

  1. Chisholm 1911, p. 662.
  2. Biographical on-line note Archived 13 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  3. John Cargher. "The Italian job", ABC Radio 24 Hours, November 2001, pg. 42

Sources




На других языках


[de] Otto Nicolai

Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (* 9. Juni 1810 in Königsberg i. Pr.; † 11. Mai 1849 in Berlin) war ein deutscher Komponist und Dirigent. Während seines Engagements in Wien rief er die „philharmonischen Konzerte“ ins Leben und gründete auf diese Weise die Wiener Philharmoniker. Bekannt wurde er vor allem durch seine Oper Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor.
- [en] Otto Nicolai

[es] Carl Otto Nicolai

Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (Königsberg, 9 de junio de 1810 - Berlín, 11 de mayo de 1849) fue un compositor y director de orquesta prusiano, fundador de la Filarmónica de Viena. Nicolai es conocido por su versión para ópera de la comedia "Las alegres comadres de Windsor" de Shakespeare (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor). Además de cinco óperas, Nicolai también compuso trabajos para orquesta, coros y solos para instrumentos.

[ru] Николаи, Отто

Карл Отто Эренфрид Николаи (нем. Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai, 9 июня 1810, Кёнигсберг — 11 мая 1849, Берлин) — немецкий композитор и дирижёр, наиболее известный своей комической оперой «Виндзорские проказницы» по одноименной комедии Шекспира.



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