Florence Austral
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Florence Austral (16 April 1892 - 15 May 1968) was an Australian operatic soprano renowned for her interpretation of Wagnerian roles. She adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of her homeland Australia.[1]. 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 are mainly achieved with the voice, making her recordings so enjoyable. She and Frida 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, only Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson have been in their exalted league.)
Austral was born in Richmond, Victoria [2] 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 Syrian book-keeper John Fawaz, and Florence took the name Florence Fawaz.[2] 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 with Elise Wiedermann. She went to New York in 1919 to study with Gabriele Sibella. She was offered a contract to sing at the Metropolitan Opera but declined it in order to pursue a career in Britain. She went to London where she was promoted by 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 to her superior acting skills. Austral's other roles at Covent Garden included Isolde and Aida. In 1923 she appeared with Dame Nellie 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 1920's.
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 opposite Fyodor Chaliapin, Miguel Fleta, Tudor Davies and Walter 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.
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 of multiple sclerosis, during a performance of Die Walküre opposite Friedrich 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.
She returned to Britain in 1939, and appeared in many benefit concerts during the early part of the Second World War, 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 the University of Newcastle, Australia) from 1954 until her retirement in 1959.
Florence Austral died of cerebrovascular disease in a church home for the aged at Mayfield, Newcastle, on 15 May 1968[2] . By general critical consent, she remains the finest dramatic soprano produced by Australia.
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[edit] 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.
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- Neville Cardus, Manchester Guardian, 1928.
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[edit] 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
- ^ As was the case with Elsie Mary Fischer, who took the name Elsa Stralia [1]; also, Helen Porter Mitchell took the name Nellie Melba (after Melbourne), and June Mary Gough took the name June Bronhill (after Broken Hill).
- ^ a b c Australian Dictionary of Biography
