Browning Mummery

Mummery worked as a mechanic, but always dreamed of being a singer, and thus spared all his money for voice lessons. He made his debut in 1919 with the touring Frank Rigo Opera Company in Melbourne, as Beppo in Fra Diavolo, followed by Faust. When the Rigo Company was taken over by J. C. Williamson's later that year, they took over also Mummery. Next, Mummery joined the Gonzales Opera Company.

In 1921, he went to London for further studies, and the following year, he was hired by the British National Opera Company, where he had a major success in 1923 as David. He also sang Pinkerton there, among other roles. In 1924, he was back to Australia, accompanying Nellie Melba on her tour of her native country. In 1925, Mummery was a guest at Covent Garden as Italienischer Sänger under Bruno Walter's baton, and in 1926, Melba chose him to sing Rodolfo in her farewell performance at Covent Garden. He also sang operetta and musical comedy in London, and appeared in Promenade Concerts.

In 1928, he was again in Australia (with the Melba-Williamson Company), then he toured the USA, where he stayed until 1931 or 1932 as a radio tenor at NBC New York. Back to London, he was still a radio tenor, this time for the BBC; he also appeared in the musical film "Evensong" in 1934.

The same year, he returned to Australia for good; he worked as a teacher in Melbourne, still making the occasional appearance in public or on the radio, both in Australia and in New Zealand. He later retired to Canberra. Mummery left a considerable number of HMV records.

Reference 1 and picture source, reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 3

Many thanks to Anton Bieber for the recordings and label scans of Bohème and Pagliacci.