Johann Nepomuk Fuchs

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs was an Austrian conductor, teacher, editor and composer, and the brother of the composer Robert Fuchs. Born in Frauental, in Styria, in 1842, and dying in Vöslau, near Vienna, in 1899, he pursued his career within the Central European operatic world of the second half of the nineteenth century.

His theoretical training was undertaken under Simon Sechter in Vienna. In 1864 he was appointed Kapellmeister at the opera in Bratislava and subsequently worked as opera director in Brno, where his only opera, Zingara, was premiered in 1872. He also held posts in Kassel, Cologne, Hamburg and Leipzig. From 1880 he held a position at the Hofoper in Vienna. In 1873 he married the singer Anthonie Exner in Kassel.

In 1888 he became professor of composition at the Vienna Conservatory and, in 1893, succeeded Hellmesberger as director of the institution. The following year he received the title of Deputy Hofkapellmeister in recognition of his work at court. He took part in the preparation of the Schubert Gesamtausgabe, editing Schubert's dramatic works and part of the orchestral music, and he also edited operas by Handel, Gluck and Mozart. He further composed songs and pieces for piano.