Emmanuel Schikaneder

Emanuel Schikaneder (1 September 1751 – 21 September 1812), born Johann Joseph Schickeneder, was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer and composer. He wrote the libretto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and was the builder of the Theater an der Wien. Branscombe called him "one of the most talented theatre men of his era".

Schikaneder was born in Straubing in Bavaria to Joseph Schickeneder and Juliana Schiessl. Both of his parents worked as domestic servants and were extremely poor. They had a total of four children: Urban (born 1746), Johann Joseph (died at age two), Emanuel (born 1751 and also originally named Johann Joseph), and Maria (born 1753). Schikaneder's father died shortly after Maria's birth, at which time his mother returned to Regensburg, making a living selling religious articles from a wooden shed adjacent to the local cathedral.

Schikaneder received his education at a Jesuit school in Regensburg as well as training in the local cathedral as a singer. As a young adult he began to pursue his career in the theater, appearing with Andreas Schopf's theatrical troupe around 1773 and performing opera, farce, and Singspiel. Schikaneder danced at a court ballet in Innsbruck in 1774, and the following year his Singspiel Die Lyranten was debuted there. This was a great success, and was performed frequently in the following years. Schikaneder was the librettist, composer, and principal singer, a versatility he would continue to exhibit throughout his career.

Schikaneder married on 9 February 1777. His wife, called Eleonore, was born Maria Magdalena Arth in 1751 and was the leading actress in the Schopf company. Schikaneder was frequently unfaithful to her; the 1779 baptismal records for Augsburg (where the company was performing) record two children born to him out of wedlock—each to different mothers. Eleonore played an important role in Schikaneder's career, particularly in inviting him in 1788 to join her at the Theater auf der Wieden (see below). She died in 1821.

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