Emanuel Schikaneder
He wrote the libretto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and was the builder of the Theater an der Wien.
Schikaneder was born in Straubing in the Electorate of Bavaria in the Holy Roman Empire to Joseph Schickeneder and Juliana Schiessl.
[2] Schikaneder's father died shortly after Maria's birth,[2] at which time his mother returned to Regensburg, making a living selling religious articles from a wooden shed adjacent to the local cathedral.
[3] As a young adult, he began to pursue his career in the theater, appearing with Andreas Schopf's theatrical troupe around 1773 and performing opera, farce, and Singspiel.
The Mozarts "rarely missed his shows" (Heartz),[3] and invited Schikaneder to Sunday sessions of Bölzlschiessen (dart shooting), their favorite family sport.
As Mozart was about to depart Salzburg for the premiere in Munich of his opera Idomeneo, he promised before leaving to write "Wie grausam ist, o Liebe...Die neugeborne Ros' entzückt", a recitative and aria for Schikaneder.
[5] From November 1784 to February 1785,[6] Schikaneder collaborated with theater director Hubert Kumpf for a series of performances at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna.
[8] Schikaneder and Kumpf opened their season with a revival of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
The Austrian Empire at the time was governed (like most of Europe) by the system of hereditary aristocracy, which was falling under increasing criticism as the values of the Enlightenment spread.
Schikaneder put on a successful comedy entitled Der Fremde which included a character named Baron Seltenreich ("seldom-rich") who was "a caricature of a scheming windbag of the Viennese aristocracy".
[10] Schikaneder and his colleague then stepped over the line, initiating a production of Beaumarchais' then-scandalous send-up of the aristocracy, The Marriage of Figaro.
[10] In spite of the content and cancellation of the production, Joseph II brought Schikaneder over and he entered Imperial service from April 1785 through February 1786.
[14] With plans of an emphasis on opera, Schikaneder brought two singers with him from his old troupe, tenor Benedikt Schack and bass Franz Xaver Gerl.
From his wife's company he retained soprano Josepha Hofer, actor Johann Joseph Nouseul, and Karl Ludwig Giesecke as librettist.
"[17] The series of fairy-tale operas at the Theater auf der Wieden culminated in the September 1791 premiere of The Magic Flute, with music by Mozart and libretto by Schikaneder.
[18] The opera incorporated a loose mixture of Masonic elements and traditional fairy-tale themes (see Libretto of The Magic Flute).
"Castelli adds that the March of the Priests which opens the second act was also a suggestion of Schikaneder's, added to the opera at the last minute by Mozart.
He evidently put on a benefit performance of The Magic Flute for Mozart's widow Constanze, who at the time faced a difficult financial situation.
These included collaborations with other composers of the time: Der Spiegel von Arkadien with Mozart's assistant Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Der Tyroler Wastel with Mozart's posthumous brother-in-law Jakob Haibel, and a Magic Flute sequel called Das Labyrinth, with Peter von Winter.
[23] During this period, Schikaneder would several times a year devote the theater to an Academie, or in modern terms, a classical music concert.
[24] Although many of the works performed were popular successes, the expenses of Schikaneder's elaborate productions were high, and the company gradually fell into debt.
He sold the Theater an der Wien to a consortium of nobles and left Vienna for the provinces,[28] working in Brno and Steyr.
