Otto Nicolai

Born: 1810
Died: 1849
Education: Home Schooling
Career: Vienni Philharmonic, Royal Prussian Academy of Arts

Otto Nicolai, in full Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai, (born June 9, 1810, Knigsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]died May 11, 1849, Berlin, Prussia [Germany]), German composer known for his comic opera Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor), based on William Shakespeares comedy. In his youth Nicolai was exploited as a musical prodigy by his father. He studied in Berlin in 1827 and later under Giuseppe Baini in Rome. From 1838 onward he produced successful operas in Italy and Vienna. In 1841 he became court conductor in Vienna, and he founded the Philharmonic Society there in 1842. In 1847 he became conductor of the Berlin Opera, where he produced Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor in 1849. It remains one of the most popular comic operas of the 19th century. comic opera, also called Light Opera, general designation for musical plays with light subject matter and happy endings. The dialogue is usually spoken, rather than sung. In addition to operetta and musical comedy, types of comic opera include Italian opera buffa (which has sung dialogue), German Singspiel, English ballad opera, and Spanish tonadilla and zarzuela. The French opra-comique originated as comic opera but later dealt with serious subject matter.