(b Vienna, 7 Dec 1801; d Graz, 25 May 1862). Austrian playwright, actor and singer. The last and greatest figure in a long line of Viennese actor-dramatists, he played c 880 different parts during his career. Among his most successful stage works are witty parodies of Rossini's Cenerentola (Nagerl und Handschuh, 1832; music by Adolf Müller), Meyerbeer's Robert le diable (Robert der Teufel, 1833; music by Müller) and Tannhäuser (1857; music by Carl Binder).
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.