- Florence Austral
Florence Austral (16 April 1892 - 15 May 1968) was an
Australia n operaticsoprano renowned for her interpretation of Wagnerian roles, although she never appeared atBayreuth .She was born Florence Mary Wilson, but adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of her homeland Australia. [As was the case with Elsie Mary Fischer, who took the name
Elsa Stralia [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120133b.htm] ; also, Helen Porter Mitchell took the nameNellie Melba (afterMelbourne ), and June Mary Gough took the nameJune Bronhill (after Broken Hill).] . She was considered to have few equals in sheer vocal quality until the arrival ofKirsten Flagstad . Acting was not her strong point and her characterisations were mainly achieved with the voice, which made her recordings so enjoyable. She andFrida Leider were considered to be the great Wagnerian dramatic sopranos of their era, together with Flagstad, who rose to international fame in the 1930s. (Among their post-War successors, onlyBirgit Nilsson and, to a lesser extent,Astrid Varnay , have been in their exalted league.)Austral was born in Richmond, Victoria [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070129b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography] ] as Florence Mary Wilson, the daughter of a Swedish carpenter formerly known as Wilhelm Lindholm, and his wife Helena Mary, née Harris, a dressmaker. Her father died in 1895 and her mother set up in business; in 1903 she married again, to a 28-year-old
Syria n book-keeper John Fawaz, and Florence took the name Florence Fawaz. She was discovered by the choir master Edward Sugden. In 1914 she won first prizes in both the soprano and mezzo categories at a singing contest in Ballarat, obtaining a scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies withElise Wiedermann . She went to New York in 1919 to study withGabriele Sibella . She was offered a contract to sing at theMetropolitan Opera but declined it in order to pursue a career in Britain. She went to London where she was promoted byRobert Radford . She made her Covent Garden debut on 16 May 1922 as Brünnhilde in Wagner's "Die Walküre ", and later in the same role in "Siegfried". She shared this role withFrida Leider , who received greater acclaim due to her superior acting skills. Austral's other roles at Covent Garden included "Isolde" and Verdi's "Aida ". In 1923 she appeared with DameNellie Melba , who called her "One of the wonder voices of the world". Unfortunately for her career, she sang more with the British National Opera Company than at Covent Garden in the 1920s. She would have sung more often at Covent Garden, butBruno Walter did not care for her voice and he was reluctant to engage her.In the mid-1920s she made the first of more than 100 recordings for
HMV , which are still treasured.Fred Gaisberg said: "In the early twenties Florence Austral was the most important recording artist we had, thanks to the beauty, power and compass of her voice". She recorded opera arias as well as songs, oratorios and sang in superb duets oppositeFeodor Chaliapin ,Miguel Fleta ,Tudor Davies andWalter Widdop . Her many admirable recordings for HMV include the pioneer late-acoustic English-language series of excerpts from "The Ring".In 1925 Florence Austral became the second wife of the Australian flautist
John Amadio , and they toured widely together in America, Europe and Australia. She often sang in the Ring operas inPhiladelphia , and in concert under the conductorFritz Reiner . However, she never appeared at Bayreuth or inVienna . She was negotiating to sing in Vienna, but this did not eventuate.In 1930 she became a principal singer with the
Berlin State Opera . It was there in that same year that she showed the first signs ofmultiple sclerosis , during a performance of "Die Walküre" oppositeFriedrich Schorr . Her opera career gradually suffered as a result of this advancing debilitating disease, but she was still able to devote herself to concert and recital work, developing a large lieder repertoire, although she also sang operatic excerpts. Her appearances in opera during this time included ones in her home country Australia.She returned to Britain in 1939, and appeared in many benefit concerts during the early part of
World War II , before her illness forced her to retire in 1940. In 1946 she returned to Australia, by now almost completely paralysed with multiple sclerosis. However, interest in her recordings had declined and she was in need of an income, so she taught singing at the Newcastle Conservatorium (now part of theUniversity of Newcastle, Australia ) from 1954 until her retirement in 1959. Florence Austral died ofcerebrovascular disease in a church home for the aged at Mayfield, Newcastle, on 15 May 1968 . By general critical consent, she remains the finest dramatic soprano produced by Australia.Tribute
:"The Waters of the Rhine seem to mount high, and over all rides the triumphant voice of Florence Austral as Brunnhilde. Her singing can justly be called queenly. Even after hearing the glorious singing of Frida Leider on other records, Austral's triumphant voice remains in the mind".::::Neville Cardus, "Manchester Guardian", 1928.
References
*Elphinstone, Michael and Wayne Hancock, "When Austral Sang: the Biography of Florence Austral", Hyde Park Press, Richmond, South Australia, 2005, 655pp. ISBN/ISSN: 0-646-440-330
Discography
External links
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A574828%20|%20Number%3A574827%20Online%3Atrue;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Listen to Killarney at the National Film and Sound Archive]
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A574828%20|%20Number%3A574827%20Online%3Atrue;querytype=;rec=1;resCount=10 Listen to the Last Rose of Summer at the National Film and Sound Archive]
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