Carl Johann Franz Josef Becker
Carl Johann Franz Josef Becker (born July 7, 1794 in Mainz , † December 1, 1848 in Darmstadt ) was a German theater actor , theater and opera director and theater manager .
Life
At a young age he joined the French army under Napoleon, took part in the occupation and took part in the Battle of Leipzig . The hardships of the war were not without influence on him and he was transported to Mainz , seriously ill . In the spring of 1814 he was able to leave the hospital.
His fondness for the theater was already evident during the campaign, where he caught the attention of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout at a French amateur theater , and when the war had come to an end, he joined a traveling actor company. For the time being he tried to speak German correctly again, which he succeeded in doing without giving up French, which became his second mother tongue.
He found his first major engagement in Frankfurt am Main ( recommended by Ferdinand Eßlair ). He stayed there until 1822 and was widely acclaimed as a young lover. From here he followed a call to Darmstadt, where he also cultivated the subject of youthful heroes and achieved artistic importance. Ludwig Tieck's achievements as "Romeo", "Max", "Fiesco", "Posa", "Egmont" and "Manuel" were not unknown to Ludwig Tieck and he brought Becker to the Dresden Court Theater, where he held an outstanding artistic position. Despite this, he returned to the Darmstädter Hoftheater association in 1831 , but was soon forced to leave the same theater as it was closed and to accept an engagement in Frankfurt, where he was no less popular than in his previous circles.
And yet, during his nine years of artistic activity in Frankfurt, he directed his attention uninterruptedly to Darmstadt and hardly had this theater reopened and strengthened, he went back to Darmstadt in 1840. Here Becker reached the culmination of his acting skills. He went into the character subject and performances, where he appeared as "Wallenstein", "Lear", "President" in "Kabale und Liebe", "Marinelli" and "Macbeth", were among the festive evenings of the Darmstadt audience.
In addition to his work as an actor, he also worked as a director of operas and drama from 1841 to 1845. In 1848, together with Kapellmeister Wilhelm and court opera singer Hermann Breiting, he was given the management of the theater during the turmoil of the revolutionary year. He died on December 1st of that year.
Contemporary reception
“A beautiful voice, a graceful appearance, a sure demeanor characterize him, so that he portrays the manners of the noble world amiably and truthfully, makes wit and humor visible and never leaves his line, which is still too rounded even in jokes and elegant, sometimes border on the dancer-like, and what one can criticize about this young actor (who would adorn any other stage) is a too hasty outcry of sensation, which often makes the tone indistinct and even ignoble. "
literature
- Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Verlag von Paul List , Leipzig 1903, p. 72, ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Becker, Carl Johann Franz Josef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theater actor, theater and opera director and theater director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 7, 1794 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mainz |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1, 1848 |
| Place of death | Darmstadt |