Nestroy, Johann Nepomuk ( Eduard Ambrosius )

Extract

( Eduard Ambrosius )

( b Vienna, Dec 7, 1801; d Graz, May 25, 1862). Austrian playwright, actor, director and singer . He studied law at the University of Vienna (1817–22), but left without a degree in order to devote himself to singing. At the age of 17 he had sung solo bass in a public performance of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, and on 24 August 1822 he made his début as Sarastro at the Court Opera (Kärntnertortheater). He was a member of the company until August 1823, singing ten roles in works by Paer, Rossini, Grétry, Gyrowetz and others, including Don Fernando in Fidelio. He then joined the German Theatre at Amsterdam, where in two years he built up his repertory to include Kaspar and Ottokar in Der Freischütz, Publius (and later Annius) in La clemenza di Tito, Masetto (and later Don Giovanni), Papageno, Pizarro, Adam in Schenk’s Der Dorfbarbier, and numerous Rossini roles. Towards the end of his Dutch engagement comic character parts begin to figure prominently, a tendency increasingly marked during his ...