In his youth Nicolai was exploited as a musical prodigy by his father. He studied in Berlin in 1827 and later under Giuseppe Baini in Rome. From 1838 onward he produced successful operas in Italy and Vienna. In 1841 he became court conductor in Vienna, and he founded the Philharmonic Society there in 1842. In 1847 he became conductor of the Berlin Opera, where he produced Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor in 1849. It remains one of the most popular comic operas of the 19th century.