Joseph Weigl

Joseph Franz Weigl was a cellist born in Bavaria on 19 May 1740 who died in Vienna on 25 January 1820. His career unfolded almost entirely at the Esterházy court and in the theatres and salons of the Austrian capital, an environment in which the cello held a prominent place in the chamber music of the day.

His relationship with Haydn was decisive in his early years: on the composer's recommendation, he was appointed cellist at the court of Eisenstadt of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy on 1 June 1761. There he met Anna Maria Josepha Scheffstoss, the daughter of the household's accountant, who had sung as a member of the choir and chamber music since 1760; the two married in 1764. In 1769 he became principal cellist of the Italian opera at the Viennese Kärntnertortheater, while his wife worked at the Burgtheater, where she appeared mainly in the operas of Gluck.

His expressive style of playing opened the doors of the most select circles. In 1773 Burney heard him perform quartets by Haydn alongside Starzer, d'Ordonez and Count von Brühl, at the home of Lord Stormont, the English ambassador in Vienna. In 1792 he joined the Hofkapelle, and Salieri, its Kapellmeister, often proposed him as a soloist for court banquets. He is reportedly credited with composing pieces for the csakan, a Hungarian fipple flute, although this is not known with certainty.