Julius Sulzer (26 July 1830 – 13 February 1891) was an Austrian composer and conductor. He directed the orchestra of opera houses in several European cities.

Life

Sulzer was born in 1830, a son of

Salomon Sulzer Salomon Sulzer ( he, סלומון זולצר, March 30, 1804, Hohenems, Vorarlberg – January 17, 1890, Vienna) was an Austrian '' hazzan'' (cantor) and composer. Biography His family, which prior to 1813 bore the name of ''Levi'', removed to ...

, chief cantor of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He studied music with his father and with

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

, and later studied in Italy. In May 1861 a concert entirely of his compositions took place at the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

in Vienna."Sulzer (eig. Levy), Familie"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon Online''. Retrieved 16 June 2021. He made a concert tour of Europe, and travelled to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

where he gave several concerts, playing before the Sultan. In

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1865 he directed his first opera, ''Johanna von Neapel'', libretto by

Otto Prechtler Johann Otto Prechtler (21 January 1813 – 6 August 1881) was an Austrian civil servant, and a poet, dramatist and librettist. Life Prechtler was born in Grieskirchen, Upper Austria in modest circumstances; his mother Marie was a poet, and had som ...

. It was successful, and he became in 1868 the first director of Italian opera in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. After the first performance there of Gounod's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'', Prince Karl gave him permission to found a court orchestra. Commissioned by the Romanian Ministry of Culture to write an opera on a national subject, he composed in 1869 a three-act opera ''Held Michael'' ("Michael the Hero"). He soon left Bucharest, invited to be director of opera in 1870 at the Royal Theatre in Turin. In 1871 he performed in the royal opera house in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. During the

1873 Vienna World's Fair ) , building = Rotunda , area = 233 Ha , invent = , visitors = 7,255,000 , organized = , cnt = , org = , biz = , country = Austria-Hungary , city ...

, Sulzer directed concerts and operas in the

Prater The Prater () is a large public park in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria. The Wurstelprater, an amusement park that is often simply called "Prater", lies in one corner of the Wiener Prater and includes the Wiener Riesenrad Ferris wheel. Name The n ...

. From 1875 to 1889 he was ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' at the

Hofburgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

in Vienna. He died in Vienna in 1891.

Compositions

Apart from operas, Sulzer composed orchestral works, piano music and songs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulzer, Julius 1830 births 1891 deaths Austrian Jews Jewish classical composers Austrian composers 19th-century composers