Florence Austral
Encyclopedia
Florence Austral was an Australia
n operatic soprano
renowned for her interpretation of the most demanding Wagner
ian female roles, although she never gained the opportunity to appear at the Bayreuth Festival
or the New York Metropolitan Opera.
She was born Florence Mary Wilson, but adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of her homeland of Australia. She was considered to have few equals in sheer vocal quality until the arrival of Kirsten Flagstad
. Acting was not her strong point and her characterisations were mainly achieved with the voice, which made her recordings so vastly enjoyable. She, Germaine Lubin
and Frida Leider
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
and, to a lesser extent, Astrid Varnay
, have been in their exalted league.)
, Victoria
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, Florence's mother married again, to a 28-year-old Syria
n book-keeper named John Fawaz, and Florence took the name Florence Fawaz.
(now Church of All Nations). In 1914, she won first prizes in both the soprano and mezzo-soprano
categories at a singing contest in Ballarat
, obtaining a scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies with Elise Wiedermann. She went to New York 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; but she declined the Met offer in order 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
. 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 with Frida Leider
, who received greater acclaim due purely to her superior acting skills. Austral's other roles at Covent Garden included Isolde
and the title role in Verdi
's Aida
.
In 1923, Austral appeared with Dame Nellie Melba
, 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
, she ended up singing more with the British National Opera Company
than at Covent Garden in the 1920s.
During the mid-1920s she made the first of more than 100 recordings for HMV
, which are still treasured by music-lovers and collectors. The famous recording engineer and producer at HMV, 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 operatic arias as well as songs, sacred music and oratorio extracts. She can be heard, too, in superb duets opposite Feodor Chaliapin
, Miguel Fleta
, Tudor Davies
and Walter Widdop
that 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
.)
In 1925, 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 in Philadelphia, and in concert under the conductor Fritz Reiner
. However, she never appeared at Bayreuth
, or at the Vienna State Opera
. She was negotiating to sing in Vienna, but this did not eventuate.
Austral, however, did become a principal singer with the esteemed Berlin State Opera
in 1930. It was there in that same year that she showed the first signs of multiple sclerosis
, which manifested themselves on stage during a performance of Die Walküre opposite bass-baritone
Friedrich Schorr
. 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 ones in her home country, Australia, where she toured with tenor Walter Widdop in 1934-35.
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 the multiple sclerosis. Many of her possessions were lost in a fire. Royalty earnings from her recordings had declined, too, and she found herself in need of an income, so she taught singing at the Newcastle
Conservatorium (now part of the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) from 1954 until her retirement in 1959.
in a church home for the aged at Mayfield, Newcastle
, on 15 May 1968. By general critical consent, she remains the finest dramatic soprano ever produced by Australia, as her various recordings, now available on CD reissues, readily attest.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n operatic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
renowned for her interpretation of the most demanding Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
ian female roles, although she never gained the opportunity to appear at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
or the New York Metropolitan Opera.
She was born Florence Mary Wilson, but adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of her homeland of Australia. She was considered to have few equals in sheer vocal quality until the arrival of Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano...
. Acting was not her strong point and her characterisations were mainly achieved with the voice, which made her recordings so vastly enjoyable. She, Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin was a French dramatic soprano best known for her association with the music of Richard Wagner...
and Frida Leider
Frida Leider
Frida Leider was a German opera singer.Leider was one of the most important dramatic sopranos of the 20th century. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora...
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
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
and, to a lesser extent, Astrid Varnay
Astrid Varnay
Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay was an American dramatic soprano of Hungarian heritage and Swedish birth, who did most of her work in the United States and Germany. She was one of the best-known Wagnerian heroic sopranos of her generation...
, have been in their exalted league.)
Early life
Austral was born in RichmondRichmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
as Florence Mary Wilson, the daughter of a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
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, Florence's mother married again, to a 28-year-old Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n book-keeper named John Fawaz, and Florence took the name Florence Fawaz.
Career
She was discovered by the choirmaster Rev. Edward Sugden at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Palmerston Street, Carlton, MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
(now Church of All Nations). In 1914, she won first prizes in both the soprano and mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
categories at a singing contest in Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, obtaining a scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies with Elise Wiedermann. She went to New York 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; but she declined the Met offer in order 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
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
of the day, Robert Radford
Robert Radford
Robert Radford 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 music...
. She made her Covent Garden debut on 16 May 1922 as Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, and later in the same role in Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
. She shared this role with Frida Leider
Frida Leider
Frida Leider was a German opera singer.Leider was one of the most important dramatic sopranos of the 20th century. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora...
, who received greater acclaim due purely to her superior acting skills. Austral's other roles at Covent Garden included Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
and the title role in Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
.
In 1923, Austral appeared with Dame Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. 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
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
, she ended up singing more with the British National Opera Company
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 Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham Opera Company , which was disbanded when financial problems over...
than at Covent Garden in the 1920s.
During the mid-1920s she made the first of more than 100 recordings for HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
, which are still treasured by music-lovers and collectors. The famous recording engineer and producer at HMV, Fred Gaisberg
Fred Gaisberg
Frederick William Gaisberg was an American-born musician, recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the gramophone. He himself did not use the term 'producer' and was not an impresario like his protégé Walter Legge of EMI or an innovator like John Culshaw of Decca...
, 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 operatic arias as well as songs, sacred music and oratorio extracts. She can be heard, too, in superb duets opposite Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.During the first phase...
, Miguel Fleta
Miguel Fleta
Miguel Burró Fleta was a Spanish operatic tenor....
, Tudor Davies
Tudor Davies
-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 in the Royal Navy during World War I...
and Walter Widdop
Walter Widdop
Walter Widdop 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:...
that 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
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
.)
In 1925, 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 in Philadelphia, and in concert under the conductor Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
. However, she never appeared at Bayreuth
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner...
, or at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
. She was negotiating to sing in Vienna, but this did not eventuate.
Austral, however, did become a principal singer with the esteemed Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
in 1930. It was there in that same year that she showed the first signs of multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, which manifested themselves on stage during a performance of Die Walküre opposite bass-baritone
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 three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr
Friedrich Schorr , was a renowned Austrian-Hungarian bass-baritone opera singer of Jewish origin. He later became a naturalized American....
. 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 ones in her home country, Australia, where she toured with tenor Walter Widdop in 1934-35.
She returned to Britain in 1939, and appeared in many benefit concerts during the early part of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before her illness forced her to retire in 1940. In 1946 she returned to Australia, by now almost completely paralysed with the multiple sclerosis. Many of her possessions were lost in a fire. Royalty earnings from her recordings had declined, too, and she found herself in need of an income, so she taught singing at the Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
Conservatorium (now part of the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) from 1954 until her retirement in 1959.
Death
Austral gave a few newspaper interviews in her retirement. She died of cerebrovascular diseaseCerebrovascular disease
Cerebrovascular disease is a group of brain dysfunctions related to disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain. Hypertension is the most important cause; it damages the blood vessel lining, endothelium, exposing the underlying collagen where platelets aggregate to initiate a repairing process...
in a church home for the aged at Mayfield, Newcastle
Mayfield, New South Wales
Mayfield is a north-western suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, which takes its name from Ada May a daughter of the landowner there, John Scholey, J.P...
, on 15 May 1968. By general critical consent, she remains the finest dramatic soprano ever produced by Australia, as her various recordings, now available on CD reissues, readily attest.
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.
-
-
External links
- Florence Austral Collection in the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre, Melbourne (news clippings, photographs, programmes etc.)
- Listen to Killarney at the National Film and Sound Archive
- Listen to the Last Rose of Summer at the National Film and Sound Archive