Josef Netzer was born into a musical family: already his grandfather Blasius Netzer was an accomplished organist and well-known for his compositions. Josef received his first music lessons from his father Christian Netzer, a teacher and organist from Zams. Because his parents wanted him to become a priest, he was sent to Innsbruck to attend the "Gymnasium" at the age of 12. Alongside his school attendance he studied playing the piano at the Innsbrucker Musikverein with Martin Goller. After his graduation he settled in Viennato work with Johann Gänsbacher and Simon Sechter, the teacher of Anton Bruckner. He also got acquainted with Franz Schubert in 1828. Netzer played some of his songs to Schubert and they also played piano duets.
Career
In 1838 Netzer debuted with his compositions in the Wiener Hoftheater. The concert was a huge success and he got the opportunity to present his second symphony in E-Major in another concert. Because of this accomplishments Anton Diabelliprinted his first songs "To the lute", "To the moon", "My luck" and "Hakon's song". In 1841 Netzer composed the opera "Mara", premiered at the "Wiener Hofoperntheater" by the Hofopernorchester. The premiere was Netzers breakthrough and "Mara" is nowadays his most famous opus. He worked as conductor in Vienna, Mainz, Leipzig and Graz, where he conducted the first performance of an opera by Richard Wagner in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.