Joseph Seconda

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Johann Christian Joseph Seconda (born May 17, 1761 in Dresden , † June 14, 1820 in Leipzig ) was a German principal of a traveling opera company and actor .

Life

Joseph Seconda was the younger brother of Franz Seconda , both parents were the delicatessen merchant Francesco Maria Seconda (1725–1773), who had immigrated from Italy, and his wife Sophia Dorothea, née. Krampe (1729-1809).

Little is known about Seconda's early years. At the age of 24, Joseph Seconda appeared for the first time and possibly briefly at the Hamburg Theater (until summer 1785, under Johann Christian Brandes ) and possibly in autumn with Catharina Opitz in the Bautzen Theater .

In 1786 he took over part of the Dresden court play from Pasquale Bondini , which he directed as principal until 1817. This theater troupe (mainly opera company, so-called Deutsche Operngesellschaft , also German Actor Society ) played mainly alternately in Leipzig (1788-1796, 1800-1806, 1810-1817) and Dresden (1787, 1790-1807, 1809-1816). From 1788 he worked closely with his brother Franz Seconda, who took over the Dresden court theater after Bondini. Both carried on the privilege of Bondini, who was allowed to play in Leipzig at the time of the War of the Bavarian Succession as compensation for the performances that failed in Dresden. During the war-related loss of performances from 1807 to 1809, there was renewed cooperation with the Bautzen Theater, u. a. under Friedrich Nitzschke.

The society's repertoire consisted almost exclusively of operas, for example works by Luigi Cherubini , Ferdinando Paër and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , such as Don Giovanni , Figaro's Wedding and The Abduction from the Seraglio , but also The Interrupted Feast of Sacrifice and Carl Maria von Weber's Silvana and The Uncle from Amsterdam to Cimarosa .

The German Opera Society in Dresden was only allowed to perform in the small theater outside the Black Tor on Linke'schen Bade . In the conflict between German and Italian opera, no musician from the court orchestra or court opera under Francesco Morlacchi was allowed to perform with Joseph Seconda. These restrictions meant that German opera only achieved a breakthrough in Dresden in 1817 with Carl Maria von Weber .

In February 1813 ETA Hoffmann received the offer to take over the position of music director for the Seconda troupe, which commutes between Leipzig and Dresden. Hoffmann had applied for this position in 1810 when the company was reorganized. In mid-March 1813, Seconda confirmed the contract with Hoffmann, who then first traveled to Dresden. The city was occupied by French troops at that time and was at the center of the war of liberation against Napoleon . That is why Seconda stayed in Leipzig and called Hoffmann over. When an armistice was proclaimed by mid-August 1813, Seconda received a play permit for Dresden. However, the usual venue, the Theater am Lincke'schen Bad , was outside the entrenchments around Dresden and was also reserved for the Théâtre Français under the French occupation. Through the mediation of his brother Franz, Joseph therefore received permission to play in the Dresden court theater. There the opera company alternated with Italians and French. In the winter of 1813/14 he again organized operas in Leipzig. When there were increasing differences with Hoffmann, Seconda gave him notice in February 1814. In his dramatic fragment “Blandina” Hoffmann is said to have designed a portrait Secondas.

After the Wars of Liberation, Seconda resumed regular play between Dresden and Leipzig, and Hoffmann was followed in 1814 by Carl Friedrich Ebers as Kapellmeister. In 1816 Friedrich Christian Hermann Uber took over this position.

When it was dissolved in 1817, Secondas Gesellschaft formed the staffing base of the Leipzig City Theater under director Karl Theodor von Küstner . Seconda was still working as a cashier at this theater. From 1817 to 1820 Seconda lived in Leipzig in house Am Mühlgraben No. 1057.

family

Joseph Seconda was married three times: first marriage from 1782 to Benedicta Elisabeth Jenik (1745–1791), after her death in second marriage in 1792 with Sophia Louise Isabella Charlotte Cordemann (1771–1795) and after her death from 1800 with Juliane Friederike Fuhrmann. From the last connection u. a. two daughters emerged who later worked as actresses, also in her father's company: Caroline Antonie Friederike ( Antonie , baptized on May 26, 1802 in Dresden, married on April 24, 1822 to the actor Georg Heinrich Metzner , died on May 28 , 1802 in Dresden June 1888 in Dresden) and Sophie Dorothea Ernestina ( Sophie , baptized on October 13, 1803 in Dresden, died after 1827).

Performance locations

In addition to the Leipzig and Dresden venues, the following venues for the Joseph Seconda troupe are known:

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ City Archives of the State Capital Dresden, Church weekly papers 1685 / 1703-1902, here: July 2, 1795 to January 1, 1796, p. 267.
  2. ↑ The uncle from Amsterdam. A comic opera in two acts. According to the Italian: il pittore parigino freely arranged and subordinated to the music of Cimarosa. Performed by the Seconda'schen Gesellschaft in Leipzig and Dresden. Riga and Mitau 1796, with Wilhelm Christian Andreas Müller. ( Digitized version )
  3. ^ Max Maria von Weber: Carl Maria von Weber. A picture of life. Volume 2, Ernst Keil, Leipzig 1866, p. 16 , online, accessed on August 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Corinna Kirschstein: Seconda, Joseph (Josef) . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography . Processing status August 2011, accessed on August 14, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Seconda, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seconda, Johann Christian Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German principal of a traveling opera company and actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1761
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1820
Place of death Leipzig