Andrew Földi

Who was Andrew Földi?

Andrew Foldi was an Hungarian-American bass baritone and educator whose singing career spanned four decades.

Born in Budapest, Hungary and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Foldi made his professional debut in 1954, as Biondello in Vittorio Giannini's The Taming of the Shrew at Lyric Opera of Chicago. During the next two decades, Foldi established himself as a character actor of the first rank in opera houses throughout Europe and the U.S., among them La Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Cincinnati Zoo Opera and Santa Fe Opera. He created the roles of Mr. Parker in Norman Dello Joio's Blood Moon at San Francisco Opera and John W. Diller in Armin Schibler's dance-burlesque Blackwood & Co. at Zurich Opera.

He made the first of his eighty-five appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in 1975, as Alberich in Das Rheingold. During his years on the roster, Foldi appeared as Schigolch in the company premieres of Alban Berg's Lulu and Dansker in Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd as well as playing Dr. Bartolo in the premiere of Günther Rennert's Met staging of Le Nozze di Figaro.