Otto Nicolai

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

• 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

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