Joseph Weigl
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
The son of Joseph Franz Weigl
Joseph Franz Weigl
Joseph Franz Weigl was a Bavarian and Austrian cellist. He was a cellist in the orchestra of the Esterházy family. He played under the directorship of Joseph Haydn, who also was godfather to the cellist's son, and it is thought that Haydn wrote his cello concerto in C major Joseph Franz Weigl (19...
(1740–1820), the principal cellist in the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
of the Esterházy family, he was born in Eisenstadt
Eisenstadt
- Politics :The current mayor of Eisenstadt is Andrea Fraunschiel ÖVP.The district council is composed as follows :* ÖVP: 17 seats* SPÖ: 8 seats* Austrian Green Party: 2 seats* FPÖ: 2 seats- Castles and palaces :...
and studied music under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger was an Austrian musician who was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna.He originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age...
and Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
. He became Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
at the court theatre
Court Theatre
Court Theatre or Royal Court Theatre may refer to:*Court Theatre , Chicago, Illinois*Court Theatre , a theatre company in Christchurch, New Zealand*Court Theatre of Buda, Budapest, Hungary...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1792, and from 1827 to 1838 was vice-Kapellmeister of the court.
Weigl composed a number of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, both Italian and German and in various genres, although most of his late works are pieces of sacred music. His best known work was the opera Die Schweizerfamilie
Die Schweizerfamilie
Die Schweizer Familie is an opera by the Austrian composer Joseph Weigl. It takes the form of a Singspiel in three acts. The libretto, by Ignaz Franz Castelli, is based on the vaudeville Pauvre Jacques by Charles-Augustin de Basson-Pierre und René André Polydore Chazet...
. He died in Vienna.
Operas
(first performed in Vienna, unless otherwise noted)- Die unnütze Vorsicht oder Die betrogene Arglist, puppet opera in one act, (1783)
- Il pazzo per forza, opera in two acts (1788)
- La caffettiera bizzarra, komische Oper in three acts (1790)
- Der Strazzensammler oder Ein gutes Herz ziert jeden Stand, komische Oper in one act (1792)
- La principessa d’Amalfi, komische Oper in two acts (1794)
- Das Petermännchen, play with songs in eight scenes (1794)
- Giulietta e Pierotto, dramma giocosoDramma giocosoDramma giocoso is the name of a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of "dramma giocoso per musica" and is essentially a description of the text rather than the opera as a whole...
in two acts (1794) - I solitari, opera seriaOpera seriaOpera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
in three acts (1797) - L’amor marinaro ossia Il corsaro, dramma giocosoDramma giocosoDramma giocoso is the name of a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of "dramma giocoso per musica" and is essentially a description of the text rather than the opera as a whole...
in two acts (1797) - Das Dorf im Gebirge, play with songs in two acts (1798)
- L’accademia del maestro Cisolfaut, opera in two acts (1798)
- L’uniforme, heroisch-komische Oper in three acts (Schönbrunn 1800), also as Die Uniform (1805)
- Vestas Feuer, heroische Oper in two acts (1805)
- Il principe invisibile, opera in five acts (LaxenburgLaxenburgLaxenburg is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, near Vienna.- History :The place is well-known for its castle, Schloss Laxenburg, which, beside Schönbrunn, was the most important summer seat of the Habsburg dynasty....
1806) - Kaiser Hadrian, grosse Oper in three acts (1807)
- Adrian von Ostade, opera in one act (1807)
- Cleopatra, opera in two acts (MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
1807) - Il rivale di se stesso, opera in two acts (Milan 1808)
- Das Waisenhaus, SingspielSingspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
in two acts (1808) - Die Schweizer Familie, lyrische Oper in three acts (1809)
- Der Einsiedler auf den Alpen, opera in one act (1810)
- Die Verwandlungen, operettaOperettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
in one act (1810) - Franziska von Foix, heroisch-komische Oper in three acts (1812)
- Der Bergsturz, Singspiel in three acts (1813)
- Die Jugend Peter des Großen, opera in three acts (1814)
- L’imboscata, opera in two acts (Milan 1815)
- Margaritta d’Anjou ossia L’orfana d’Inghilterra, melodramma eroicomico in two acts (1819)
- Die Nachtigall und der Rabe, opera in one act (1818)
- Daniel in der Löwengrube oder Baals Sturz, heroische Oper in three acts (1820)
- König Waldemar oder Die dänischen Fischer, Singspiel in one act (1821)
- Edmund und Caroline, opera in one act (1821)
- Die eiserne Pforte, grosse Oper in two acts (1823)