Filippo Nicolini

Filippo Nicolini (* in Italy ; † around 1775) was a German theater entrepreneur of Italian origin. During the 18th century, he dominated the theater in Braunschweig for over two decades .

life and work

Nothing is known about Nicolini's first years of life. There is evidence that he toured Holland, France and several German cities with his pantomime group consisting of children since 1742. In September 1745 he stayed in Frankfurt am Main, where he received permission from the city council to perform pantomimes on the occasion of Franz I's coronation as emperor . Further stations were Vienna, Prague and Leipzig, where Gotthold Ephraim Lessing spoke negatively of trained little monkeys after a performance . The composer Ignazio Fiorillo became a member of the troupe in 1747, for which he composed several interludes . In November 1749 Nicolini opened his "Opera Pantomima di Piccoli Hollandesi" in a large shack on Hamburg's Neumarkt, which he ran until June 5, 1749. Then he stayed at the Dresden court.

Activity in Braunschweig

Opera house on Hagenmarkt seen from the south, engraving by AA Beck , 1747

Probably in autumn 1749 Nicolini moved from Dresden to Braunschweig, which became his actual place of work. He found favor with the Braunschweig public and the reigning Duke Charles I , who awarded him the title of “Directeur des spectables”. With this, Nicolini was appointed general director for theater in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . Wandering groups of actors had to obtain a performance permit from him. With the relocation of the ducal residence from Wolfenbüttel to Braunschweig in 1753, the existing opera house on Hagenmarkt gained in importance. Nicolini had it costly restored and the outdated theater machinery replaced. He recruited an Italian singing company and thereby brought about the first brilliant period of Braunschweig opera. A travel note by the Scottish writer James Boswell from 1764 shows the high quality of the venue : Then I went to the opera, which is impressive. The Braunschweig Opera House is much more splendid than that in London. For his comedy and pantomime performances , a theater building on Burgplatz was built for Nicolini on the site of the later Vieweg House . In addition to foreign companies, Nicolini also appointed the well-known Ackermannsche Deutsche Wanderbühne , which performed at the Braunschweig Fair in Braunschweig in 1763, 1764, 1769 and 1770 . It also included the actor Friedrich Ludwig Schröder .

Bankruptcy and flight

In 1768 Nicolini fell victim to the restructuring of the broken state finances by the Hereditary Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand , who withdrew his financial support. The pantomime theater, privately run by Nicolini, went bankrupt, the opera house on Hagenmarkt was closed and the members of the court orchestra were dismissed. At the end of 1771 Nicolini was given permission to leave the city despite the large number of believers and even to take the decorations of the pantomime theater with him. While his wife Maria Magdalene stayed in Braunschweig, where she finally died on December 31, 1774, Nicolini went to Hamburg. There he signed a contract with Ackermann's widow, actress Sophie Charlotte Schröder , which enabled him to perform on her stage. Due to the changing taste of the time, Nicolini was unable to build on his old successes. In March 1773 he was again forced to flee from his creditors and left Hamburg. His further trace is lost. According to a rumor, he died in a monastery near Goslar around 1775 .

literature

• Johann Gottlieb Petrol: Attempt to judge the pantomime opera of Mr. Nicolini . Nun, Erfurt 1751 ( digitized version )
• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 8th to 18th centuries . Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , pp. 523-524
• Hermann Arthur Lier:  Nicolini, Philipp . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, pp. 632-635.