WOLFF, PIUS ALEXANDER

(1782-1828)

Actor. Wolff is best known as the actor whomJohann Wolfgang Goethepersonally trained in the "Weimar style," beginning when Wolff was 20 years old. Wolff learned to emphasize precise movement, gesture, and enunciation in an attempt to "unite the true with the beautiful" and capture an idealized characterization in all his subsequent characterizations. He was the first Hamlet inAugust WilhelmSchlegel's masterful verse translation, given at the Weimar Court Theater and later under Goethe's direct supervision in 1809. Much to Goethe's chagrin, Wolff accepted an invitation to join theBerlinRoyal Theater in 1816, where he continued to do idealized portrayals of Hamlet, Marquis Posa inFriedrichSchiller'sDon Carlos, the title role in Goethe'sTasso, and other romantic leads.