Austral, Florence (real name, Mary Wilson)
Austral, Florence (real name, Mary Wilson)
Austral, Florence (real name, Mary Wilson), Australian soprano; b. Richmond, near Melbourne, April 26, 1892; d. Newcastle, New South Wales, May 15, 1968. She studied on a scholarship at the Melbourne Cons. (1914–18), and then completed her training with Sibella in N.Y. In 1921 she made her London concert debut, followed by her operatic debut there as Brünnhilde with the British National Opera Co. on May 16, 1922. She subsequently appeared as Aida and Isolde with the company. In 1924, 1929, and 1933 she again sang Brünnhilde in London, and returned there to sing at Sadler’s Wells (1937–39). She also sang in Australia and the U.S. For a time, she was married to the flutist John Amadio. Austral was admired as a Wagne-rian.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire