Florence Austral (26 April 1892 – 15 May 1968) was an Australian operatic
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
renowned for her interpretation of the most demanding
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
ian female roles, although she never gained the opportunity to appear at the
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
or
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
's
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
.
It has been said of Austral that she was "considered to have few equals in sheer vocal quality until the arrival of
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casaz ...
. Acting was not her strong point; and her characterisations were mainly achieved with the voice, which made her recordings so vastly enjoyable." Austral,
Germaine Lubin
Germaine (Léontine Angélique) Lubin (1 February 1890 – 27 October 1979) was a French dramatic soprano, best known for her association with the music of Richard Wagner. She possessed a brilliant voice but her later career was tainted with accus ...
, and
Frida Leider
Frida Leider (18 April 1888 – 4 June 1975) was a German operatic soprano.
Leider was a dramatic soprano. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora. She ...
were "considered to be the great Wagnerian dramatic sopranos of their era, together with Flagstad, who did not rise to international fame until the 1930s. (Among all post-War Wagnerian sopranos, only
Birgit Nilsson
Märta Birgit Nilsson (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano. Although she sang a wide répertoire of operatic and vocal works, Nilsson was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner a ...
and, to a lesser extent,
Astrid Varnay
Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay (25 April 1918 – 4 September 2006) was a Swedish-born American dramatic soprano of Hungarian descent. She spent most of her career in the United States and Germany. She was one of the leading Wagnerian heroic sopranos ...
, have been in their exalted league.)"
Early life
Florence Mary Wilson was born in
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, Victoria on 26 April 1892.
She was the daughter of a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
carpenter who had changed his name from Wilhelm Lindholm to William Wilson, and the dressmaker Helena Mary, née Harris. Her father died in 1895 and her mother set up in business. In 1903, Florence's mother married again, to a 28-year-old Syrian book-keeper named John Fawaz, and Florence took the name Florence Fawaz.
Stage name
Like other noted Australian sopranos, such as
Elsie Mary Fischer (1881-1945) ("Elsa Stralia"),
June Mary Gough (1929-2005) ("June Bronhill", after Broken Hill), Vera Honor Hempseed (1890-1952) ("Madame Vera Tasma", after Tasmania),
Helen Porter Mitchell (1861-1931) ("Nellie Melba", after Melbourne), Dorothy Mabel Thomas (1896-1978) ("Dorothy Canberra"), and Florence Ellen Towl (1870-1952) ("Madame Ballara", after Ballarat), Florence Mary Wilson adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of Australia.
Warden, Ian, "Has anyone a recording of soprano Dorothy Canberra?", ''The Canberra Times'', (Wednesday, 10 November 1982), p.21.
/ref>
Career
Austral was discovered by the choirmaster Rev. Edward Sugden at the Wesleyan Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
in Palmerston Street, Carlton, Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
(now Church of All Nations). In 1914, she won first prizes in both the soprano and mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
categories at a singing contest in Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, obtaining a scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies with Elise Wiedermann. She went to New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
in 1919 to study further with Gabriele Sibella. Her voice impressed influential listeners and she was offered a contract to sing at the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
; however, she declined the Met offer to gain stage experience in England, and never again had a chance to sing with the New York company.
Austral duly went to London where she was promoted by the leading British bass of the day, Robert Radford
Robert Radford (13 May 1874, Nottingham3 March 1933, London) was a British bass singer who made his career entirely in the United Kingdom, participating in concerts and becoming one of the foremost performers of oratorios and other sacred mus ...
. She made her Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
debut on 16 May 1922 as Brünnhilde in Wagner's ''Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...
'', and later in the same role in ''Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
''. She shared this role with Frida Leider
Frida Leider (18 April 1888 – 4 June 1975) was a German operatic soprano.
Leider was a dramatic soprano. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora. She ...
, who received greater acclaim due to her superior acting skills. Austral's other roles at Covent Garden included '' Isolde'' and the title role in Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
's ''Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...
''.
In 1923, Austral appeared with Dame Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...
, who called her "one of the wonder voices of the world", praising the purity of her tone and the gleaming power of her high notes. Unfortunately for her career, due to prevailing circumstances and the reputed antipathy of conductor Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...
, she ended up singing more with the British National Opera Company
The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...
than at Covent Garden in the 1920s.
During the mid-1920s, she made the first of more than 100 recordings for HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
, which are still treasured by collectors. The famous recording engineer and producer at HMV, Fred Gaisberg
Frederick William Gaisberg (1 January 1873 – 2 September 1951) was an American musician, recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the phonograph, gramophone. He himself did not use the term 'producer', and was not ...
, 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".
Austral recorded operatic arias, as well as songs, sacred music and oratorio extracts. She can also be heard in notable duets opposite Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...
, Miguel Fleta
Miguel Burro Fleta (28 December 1897, in Albalate de Cinca, Province of Huesca, Aragon – 29 May 1938, in A Coruña) was a Spanish operatic tenor.
Despite his short stage career, lasting from 1919 to 1935, Fleta has been described as one of the ...
, Tudor Davies
Tudor Davies (12 November 18922 April 1958) was a Welsh tenor.
Biography
Tudor Davies was born in Cymmer, near Porth, South Wales, on 12 November 1892. He studied in Cardiff and at the Royal College of Music in London. He served as an engineer ...
and Walter Widdop
Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 – 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach.
Career
Widdop was born at N ...
, which employ both the acoustic and electrical recording processes. (Her acoustic recordings for HMV include the pioneering English-language series of excerpts from ''The Ring Cycle
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
''.)
In 1925, Austral became the second wife of the Australian flautist John Amadio
John Amadio (15 November 1883 – 4 April 1964) was an Australian flute player, born in New Zealand, who performed with orchestras around the world and made a career as an international soloist and operatic accompanist. "He owed the beginnings of ...
, and they toured widely together in America, Europe and Australia. She often sang in the Ring operas in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, and in concert under the conductor Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose t ...
. However, she never appeared at Bayreuth
Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...
, or at the Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...
. She was negotiating to sing in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, but this did not eventuate.
Neville Cardus, writing in the ''Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in 1928, said: "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."
Austral became a principal singer with the esteemed Berlin State Opera
The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
in 1930. It was there in that same year that she showed the first signs of multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
, which manifested themselves on stage during a performance of ''Die Walküre'' opposite bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...
Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr (September 2, 1888 – August 14, 1953), was a renowned Austrian- Hungarian bass-baritone opera singer of Jewish origin. He later became a naturalized American.
Schorr was particularly famous for his profound portrayals o ...
. Her opera career gradually suffered as a result of the advance of this 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 pieces. Her appearances in opera during this time included those in her home country of Australia, where she toured with tenor Walter Widdop
Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 – 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach.
Career
Widdop was born at N ...
in 1934–35, singing the Australian premiere of ''Les pêcheurs de perles
' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...
''.
Austral returned to Britain in 1939, and appeared in many benefit concerts during the early part of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, before her illness forced her to retire in 1940. In 1946, she returned to Australia. Many of her possessions were lost in a fire. Royalty earnings from her recordings had also declined, and she found herself in need of an income, so she taught singing at the Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
Conservatorium, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
(now part of the University of Newcastle) from 1954 until her retirement in 1959.
Death
Austral gave several newspaper interviews in her retirement. She died of cerebrovascular disease
Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The ...
in a church home for the aged at Mayfield, Newcastle, on 15 May 1968, aged 76. By general critical consent, she remains the finest dramatic soprano ever produced by Australia. Various recordings of hers have been made available on CD reissues.
Footnotes
References
Clarke, Patricia, "Sad Demise of a Great Soprano", ''The Canberra Times'', (Saturday, 2 December 1995), p.C12.
* Elphinstone, Michael and Wayne Hancock, ''When Austral Sang: the Biography of Florence Austral'', Hyde Park Press, Richmond, South Australia, 2005, 655pp.
* Moffat, James, ''Florence Austral: One of the Wonder Voices of the World'', Currency Press, in association with National Library of Australia, (Sydney), 1995.
Southern, Michael, "Twilight of the Goddess", ''The Bulletin'', Vol.85, No.4342, (Saturday, 4 May 1963), p.14.
External links
Florence Austral Collection
at the National Film and Sound Archive
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
, includes sound recordings, photographs, programs, recording notes, scripts etc.
Florence Austral Collection
in the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre, Melbourne (news clippings, photographs, programmes etc.)
Listen to the Last Rose of Summer at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austral, Florence
1892 births
1968 deaths
Musicians from Melbourne
Australian operatic sopranos
20th-century Australian women opera singers
University of Newcastle (Australia) faculty
Voice teachers
Australian people of Swedish descent