Johann Hoffmann (theater director)

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Johann Hoffmann, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1828

Johann Hoffmann (born March 22, 1803 in Vienna , † September 13, 1865 ibid) was an Austrian singer ( tenor ) and theater director .

Life

As the son of a civil servant, he joined the Viennese magistrate in 1820 as a trainee. In addition, however, he also took singing lessons from the brother of the famous dancer Fanny Elßler . In 1826 he made his debut in the title role of the opera “Der Klausner am wüsten Berge” at the Kärntnertortheater . Here he embodied great tenor roles such as Titus , Othello , Fra Diavolo and Oberon . As a singer he went through the following engagements: Aachen (1829), Berlin (1829), St. Petersburg (1835) and Riga (1838). From 1840 to 1844 he took over the management of the theater there. From 1846 to 1852 he was director of the Estates Theater in Prague and from 1852 to 1855 of the National Theater in Frankfurt am Main . In 1855 he bought the theater in der Josefstadt for 126,000 guilders , which he directed until 1865. He also had the famous theater architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer built the Thalia Theater , which opened in 1856. Here in 1856 the first performance of Richard Wagner's “Tannhäuser” took place. After severe financial losses, Hoffmann closed the theater in der Josefstadt on May 10, 1865. During the last months before his death he was still playing in folk plays in the Thalia Theater.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Hoffmann, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian singer (tenor) and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1865
Place of death Vienna