Franz Hoppé

A biographical sketch which appeared in the Hamburger Zeitung [de], among others, reports in somewhat greater detail the anecdote that Hoppé had indeed entered the conservatoire to take the entrance examination for piano studies, but on this occasion had heard a small boy play so perfectly, he returned to his native city "rather saddened and completely at a loss", where he finally set his sights on a musical career and began to "cultivate the horn".

According to this account of his life, however, his success was rather moderate, so that Hoppé switched to pharmacy and finally returned to St. Petersburg once again.

After an engagement in Cologne, he moved to the Hamburg State Opera in 1838, where he won the title role in Karl Töpfer's play Der reiche Mann.

[4] Hoppé, already suffering severely from "consumption fever",[5] had his last performance on 22 June 1849 as Marinelli in Emilia Galotti.

His first wife, whom he had married in London and who had also been an actress, had borne him three children, but succumbed to "incurable insanity", and had been divorced by Hoppé and taken to an asylum.

[9] Kürschner described Hoppé as one of the most usable actors on the Berlin stage and wrote of him: "Hoppé's talent was characterised by the avoidance of everything abrupt and unattractive, by the emphasis on the smooth, moderate [...]" He lacked the demonic quality of a Franz Moor or Mephistopheles, whereas he showed his strengths in roles such as Geßler, Nathan and Dorfrichter Adam.Joseph Kürschner (1881).