Joseph Weigl (born March 28, 1766 in Eisenstadt; died February 3, 1846 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was the son of cellist Joseph Franz Weigl and a godchild of Joseph Haydn. Weigl studied music under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and court conductor Antonio Salieri, who greatly encouraged him. He also assisted in rehearsals for the premiere of ''Le nozze di Figaro'', some of whose later performances he conducted himself. He also assisted Mozart with the Viennese premieres of the operas ''Don Giovanni'' and ''Così fan tutte''. In 1790, Weigl became theater conductor at the Vienna Court Theaters, then first theater conductor in 1792 and vice court conductor in 1827. He retired in 1839.
Joseph Weigl's works primarily comprise vocal and stage music: masses, approximately 34 operas, singspiele, and operettas in German and Italian. Much of his late work is devoted to church music. Weigl's singspiele Das Waisenhaus (The Orphanage) and Die Schweizer Familie (The Swiss Family) are among the most successful of their kind.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Note: Translated from a German version of Wikipedia into English
