Ferdinand Karl Holdampf by Zink

Ferdinand Karl Holdampf (1842-1880); Hungarian tenor.
His career had quite a difficult start. After beginning his singing studies in Budapest he had to give up, because his parents thought him more suitable for a commercial profession. In 1859 he came to Vienna as a merchant, but he continued his studies. In 1863 he made his debut at the “Theater von Köln” as Bois-Rosé in “Les Huguenots”. It was not a success and the “Theater von Köln” cancelled his contract. He then studied with Ernst Koch in Cologne and in 1864 he returned to the stage at the “Hoftheater von Neustrelitz” as Alessandro Stradella in the eponymous opera by Von Flotow. This time with great success. From 1865/79 he sang at Bamberg, Berlin, Budapest, Cluj, Coburg, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Köln, Mannheim, Meiningen, Regensburg, Wien and Zürich. His most memorable rôles were Max in “Der Freischütz”, Hüon in “Oberon”, Raoul in “Les Huguenots” , Faust and Lohengrin.