- Carl Otto Nicolai
Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (
June 9 ,1810 Königsberg –May 11 ,1849 Berlin ) was a Germancomposer , conductor, and founder of theVienna Philharmonic . Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare'scomedy "The Merry Wives of Windsor " ("Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor"). In addition to fiveopera s, Nicolai composedlieder , works fororchestra , 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 ofCarl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. After initial successes in Germany, including his first Symphony (1831) and public concerts, he became musician to the Prussian Embassy inRome . During the early 1840s he established himself as a major figure in the concert life ofVienna . In 1844 he was offered the position, vacated byFelix Mendelssohn , ofKapellmeister at theBerlin Cathedral ; but he did not reestablish himself in Berlin until the last year of his life. On11 May 1849 , two months after the premiere of "The Merry Wives", and only two days after his appointment as "Hof Kapellmeister" at theBerlin Staatsoper , he collapsed and died from a stroke. On the very same day of his death, he was elected a member of thePrussian Royal Academy of Arts .Works
Operas
*"Enrico II" (
Trieste , 1839)
*"Il templario" (Turin , 1840)
*"Gildippe e Odoardo" (Genoa , 1841)
*"Il proscritto" (Milan , 1841)
*"Mariana" (Milan, 1841)
*"Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor" (Berlin , 1849)Other
* Opus 6 - 6 four-part unaccompanied
lied er
* Opus 26 - Variazioni concertanti : su motivi favoriti dell’operaLa sonnambula di Bellini, forsoprano , horn andpiano forte (or [violoncello] orclarinet ) (republished in 2000 by edition mf)
* Opus 30 - Die Thräne : voice, horn and piano (republished in 1999 by "edition mf").
* Opus 31 - Ecclesiastical festival overture on thechorale "Ein feste burg ist unser Gott"
* Opus 33 - Pater noster, opus 33, for two mixed choirs (SATB/SATB) a cappella with soloists (SATB/SATB). Published by Schott Music Publishers in 1999.
* Der drittePsalm (Psalm no 3) foralto solo. (Manuscript atLibrary of Congress .)
* 3 sonatas for 2 horns no. 1, 2, 3 : from the Handel Knot-Farquharson Cousins ms (re(?)published by Edition Kunzelmann in 1977.)
* Mass inD major (1835). (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.References
*1911|article=Nicolai Otto|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Otto_Nicolai
*cite book | last=Nicolai | first=Otto | coauthors=Schröder, B., ed. | title=Otto Nicolais tagebücher nebst biographischen ergänzungen | language=German | location=Leipzig publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel | year=1892 | oclc=17601836
*cite book | last=Nicolai | first=Otto | coauthors=Altmann Wilhelm, ed.| title=Otto Nicolai, Briefe an seinen Vater, soweit erhalten | language=German | location=Regensburg | publisher=G. Bosse | year=1924 | oclc=3463501
*cite book | last=Sadie | first=Stanley | coauthors=Brown, Clive, ed. | title=Nicolai, Carl Otto Ehrenfried in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera | publisher=Grove's Dictionaries of Music | year=1992 | isbn=0333734327External links
*allmusic|41:7779
* [http://www.karadar.com/operas/nicolai.html Otto Nicolai operas]
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/Classpedia/Nicolai.htm Otto Nicolai biography and timeline] at MusicWeb Classpedia
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