View source for Otto Nicolai

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{short description|19th-century German composer and conductor}}
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[[File:Otto Nicolai.jpg|thumb|upright|Otto Nicolai in 1842]]

'''Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai''' (9 June 1810&nbsp;– 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 [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s comedy ''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]'' as ''{{Lang|de|[[The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera)|Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor]]}}''. In addition to five operas, Nicolai composed [[lied]]er, works for orchestra, [[Choir|chorus]], [[Musical ensemble|ensemble]], and solo instruments.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=662}}

==Biography==
{{more citations needed|section|date=January 2018}}
{{Expand German|topic=bio|Otto Nicolai|date=November 2023}}
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,<ref>[http://www.ostdeutsche-biographie.de/nicoot99.htm Biographical on-line note] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213235554/http://www.ostdeutsche-biographie.de/nicoot99.htm |date=13 February 2008 }} {{in lang|de}}</ref> taking refuge in [[Stargard Szczeciński|Stargard]] with a senior legal official called August Adler who treated the musical prodigy like a son and, when Nicolai was seventeen, sent him to Berlin to study with [[Carl Friedrich Zelter]].{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

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.<ref>[[John Cargher]]. "The Italian job", ''[[ABC Radio 24 Hours]]'', November 2001, p. 42</ref>

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|date=January 2018}}

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 State Opera|Berlin Staatsoper]], he collapsed and died from a stroke. On the same day of his death, he was elected a member of the [[Prussian Academy of Arts|Royal Prussian Academy of Arts]].{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Nicolai was portrayed by [[Hans Nielsen (actor)|Hans Nielsen]] in the 1940 film ''[[Falstaff in Vienna]]''.

==Works==

===Operas===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!|Title!!|Genre!!|Sub&shy;divisions!!|Libretto!!|Composition!!|Première date!!|Place, theatre
|-
|{{Hs|Figlia abbandonata}}''La figlia abbandonata''||&nbsp;||&nbsp;||||1837||''unfinished''||&nbsp;
|-
|''Rosmonda d'Inghilterra'' (given at the first performance as: ''Enrico II'')|| [[melodramma serio]]||2 acts||{{Hs|Romani}}[[Felice Romani]]||1837–1838||{{Hs|1839-11-26}}26 November 1839||[[Trieste]], [[Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi|Teatro Grande]]
|-
|{{Hs|Templario}}''[[Il templario]]''||[[melodramma]]||3 acts||{{Hs|Marini}}Girolamo Maria Marini, after [[Walter Scott]]||1839–1840||{{Hs|1840-02-11}}11 February 1840||[[Turin]], [[Teatro Regio (Turin)|Teatro Regio]]
|-
|''Gildippe ed Odoardo''||melodramma||3 acts||{{Hs|Solera}}[[Temistocle Solera]]||1840||{{Hs|1840-12-26}}{{Nowrap|26 December 1840}}||[[Genoa]]
|-
|{{Hs|Proscritto}}''Il proscritto''||&nbsp;||3 acts||{{Hs|Rossi}}[[Gaetano Rossi]]||1841||{{Hs|1841-03-13}}13 March 1841|| [[Milan]], [[La Scala]]
|-
|{{Hs|Heimkehr des Verbannten}}''[[Die Heimkehr des Verbannten]]'' (revision of ''Il proscritto'')||tragische Oper||3 acts||{{Hs|Kapper}}[[Siegfried Kapper]]||1843||{{Hs|1844-02-03}}3 February 1844||[[Vienna]], [[Theater am Kärntnertor]]
|-
|{{Hs|Tempelritter}}''Der Tempelritter'' (revision of ''Il templario'')||&nbsp;||3 acts||{{Hs|Kapper}}Siegfried Kapper||1845||{{Hs|1845-12-20}}20 December 1845||Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
|-
|{{Hs|Lustigen}}''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera)|Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor]]''||komisch-phantastische Oper||3 acts||{{Hs|Mosenthal}}[[Salomon Hermann Mosenthal]], after [[William Shakespeare]], ''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]''||1845–1846||{{Hs|1849-03-09}}9 March 1849||Berlin, [[Berlin State Opera|Hofoper]]
|}

===Other===
* Six four-part unaccompanied [[lied]]er, Op. 6
* Variazioni concertanti su motivi favoriti dell'opera ''[[La sonnambula]]'' di [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]], Op. 26, for [[soprano]], [[French horn|horn]] and piano (or cello or [[clarinet]]) (republished in 2000 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 [[Psalms|Psalm]] (Psalm 3) for [[alto]] solo. (Manuscript at [[Library of Congress]].)
* Six sonatas for two horns: from the Handel Knot-Farquharson Cousins ms (re(?)published by Edition Kunzelmann in 1977.)
* [[Mass (music)|Mass]] in [[D major]] (1832/1845). (Recorded on the label Koch Schwann in 1981, subsequently reissued on compact disc. Published by Augsburg : A. Böhm in 1986.)
* Te Deum (1832); [[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. 0 (1831) and No. 1 in D (1835, rev. 1845)
* Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra in Eb major (1835)

===Songs and duets===
*''Wenn sanft des Abends'', Op. 2a
*''Der Schäfer im Mai'' / ''Männersinn'', Op. 3
*''Abschied'', Op. 13
*''Auf ewig dein'', Op. 14
*''Wie der Tag mir schleicht'' / ''Willkommen du Gottes Sonne'' / ''Die Schwalbe'', Op. 15
*''Lebewohl'' / ''An die Entfernte'' / ''Randino'' / ''Das treue Mädchen'', Op. 16
*''Schlafendes Herzenssöhnchen'', Op. 19
*''Rastlose Liebe'', Op. 23
*''Il duolo d'amore'' / ''Se tranquillo a te d'accanto'' / ''Il desiderio al lido'' op. 24
*''Die Träne'', Op. 30
*''Die Beruhigung'' / ''Der getreue Bub'' / ''Stürm, stürm, du Winterwind'', Op. 34
*''Der Kuckuck'' / ''Flohjammer'' / ''Du bist zu klein, mein Hänselein'', Op. 35
*''Herbstlied'', Op. 37

===Works for piano===
*Six danses brillantes
*Rondo capriccioso
*Sonata in d minor Op. 27
*''Mondwalzer''
*Etude ''Adieu à Liszt'', Op. 28
*3 Etudes, Op. 40

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{more footnotes|date=January 2014}}
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Nicolaï, Otto |volume=19 |page=662}}
*{{cite book | last=Nicolai | first=Otto | editor=Schröder, B. | title=Otto Nicolais Tagebücher nebst biographischen Ergänzungen | url=https://archive.org/details/ottonicolaistag00schrgoog | language=German | location=Leipzig| publisher=[[Breitkopf & Härtel]] | year=1892 | oclc=17601836}}
*{{cite book | last=Nicolai | first=Otto |editor=Altmann Wilhelm| 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 |authorlink=Stanley Sadie| editor=Brown, Clive | title=Nicolai, Carl Otto Ehrenfried in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'' | publisher=Grove's Dictionaries of Music | year=1992 | isbn=0-333-73432-7}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Otto Nicolai}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Otto Nicolai}}
*{{IMSLP|id=Nicolai, Otto}}
*[http://www.musicweb-international.com/Classpedia/Nicolai.htm Otto Nicolai biography and timeline] at MusicWeb Classpedia
*{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q7779}}
*{{IMDb name|0630211}}
*{{find a Grave|20628678}}

{{Otto Nicolai}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolai, Otto}}
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1849 deaths]]
[[Category:German classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:Musicians from Königsberg]]
[[Category:Musicians from East Prussia]]
[[Category:19th-century classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century conductors (music)]]
[[Category:19th-century German composers]]
[[Category:German conductors (music)]]
[[Category:German male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:German opera composers]]
[[Category:German Romantic composers]]
[[Category:German male opera composers]]
[[Category:Music directors of the Berlin State Opera]]
[[Category:Pupils of Bernhard Klein]]
[[Category:Pupils of Carl Friedrich Zelter]]