Weigl

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Weigl

Weigl , family of Austrian musicians:

(1) Joseph (Franz) Weigl, cellist; b. in Bavaria, May 19, 1740; d. Vienna, Jan. 25, 1820. Upon the recommendation of Haydn, he was made a cellist at the Eisenstadt court in 1761; he married (Anna Maria) Josepha Scheffs-toss, a former singer at the court, in 1764. In 1769 he was named first cellist of the Italian Opera orch. at the Kärnthnertortheater in Vienna; in 1792 he became a member of the Hofkapelle.

(2) Joseph Weigl, composer and conductor, son of the preceding; b. Eisenstadt, March 28, 1766; d. Vienna, Feb. 3, 1846. He was taken to Vienna in 1769, where he trained with Sebastian Witzig (singing and thoroughbass) in 1775; soon became a pupil of Albrechtsberger, with whom he remained until 1782. At age 16 Weigl wrote his first opera, Die unnütze Vorsicht, for a marionette theater, winning the esteem of Gluck and Salieri. At 19 he became a pupil in composition of Salieri, who secured a position for him in the Court Theater; he was deputy Kapellmeister by 1790; in 1792 he was made Kapellmeister and composer. From 1827 to 1838 he was Vice-Kapellmeister at the court, retiring from public life in 1839. His first notable success as a composer for the theater came with his opera La Principessa d’Amalfi (Vienna, Jan. 10, 1794), which Haydn described as a masterpiece (in a letter to Weigl after the perf.); it was followed by Das Waisenhaus (Vienna, Oct. 4, 1808) and Die Schweizerfamilie (Vienna, March 14, 1809; produced in Paris, Feb. 6,1827, as Emmeline, ou La Famille suisse); it was staged in opera houses all over Europe until about 1900, when it disappeared from the repertoire. His ballets also won a wide hearing.

Works

dramatic: Opera (all first perf. in Vienna unless otherwise given): Die unnütze Vorsicht oder Die betrogene Arglist (Feb. 23,1783); II Pazzo per forza (Nov. 14,1788); La caffettiera bizzarra (Sept. 15, 1790); Der Strassensammler (Lumpensammler) oder Ein gutes Herz ziert jeden Stand, comic opera (Oct. 13, 1792); La Principessa d’Amalfi, comic opera (Jan. 10,1794); Das Petermännchen (part 1, April 8,1794; part 2, April ?, 1794); Giuletta e Pierotto (Oct. 16, 1794); Í solitavi, opera seria (March 15,1797); L’amor marinaro ossia II Corsaro (Oct. 15,1797); Das Dorf im Gebirge, Singspiel (April 17, 1798); L’accademia del maestro Cisolfaut (Oct. 14, 1798); L’uniforme, heroic-comic opera (1800); Die Herrenhuterin, Singspiel (Nov. 26,1804; in collaboration with I. Umlauf and F. Devienne); Vestas Feuer, heroic opera (Aug. 7, 1805); II Principe invisibile (Oct. 4, 1806); Kaiser Hadrian (May 21, 1807); Ostade oder Adrian von Ostade (Oct. 3, 1807); Cleopatra (Milan, Dec. 19,1807); II Rivale di se stesso (Milan, April 18, 1808); Das Waisenhaus, Singspiel (Oct. 4,1808); Die Schweizerfamilie, Singspiel (March 14, 1809); Die Verwandlungen, operetta (Berlin, Feb. 1810); Der Einsiedler auf den Alpen (June 13, 1810); Franciska von Foix, heroic-comic opera (Feb. 7, 1812); Der Bergsturz, Singspiel (Dec. 19, 1813); Die Jugend (Jugendjahre) Peter des Grossen (Dec. 10, 1814); L’imboscata (Milan, Nov. 8, 1815); Margarina d’Anjou ossia L’Orfano d’Inghilterra, melodramma eroi-comico (Milan, July 26, 1816); Die Nachtigall und der Rabe (April 20, 1818); Daniel in der Löwengrube oder Baals Sturz, heroic opera (April 13, 1820); König Waldemar oder Die dänischen Fischer, Singspiel (May 11,1821); Edmund und Caroline (Oct. 21, 1821); Die eiserne Pforte, grand opera (Feb. 27, 1823). Other Dramatic : Ballets, incidental music used in several plays, and the oratorio La passione di Gesù Cristo (1804). OTHER: Many cantatas; songs; masses; the oratorio La passione di Gesù Cristo (1804); instrumental works.

(3) Thaddäus Weigl, conductor, music publisher, and composer, brother of the preceding; b. April 8,1776; d. Vienna, Feb. 29, 1844. He studied theory with Albrechtsberger, and then was employed in the Court Theater’s music publishing house from 1795. He organized his own publishing concern in 1803; also was Vice-Kapellmeister to his brother, becoming a composer at the Court Theater in 1806. His publishing business ended in bankruptcy in 1831. He wrote 5 operettas and 15 ballets.