Born in Sydney, Australia in 1926 Joan Sutherland was taught to sing by her mother. She made her debut in Purcell's Dido and Aenaes
in 1947 before coming to London to study at the Royal College of Music in 1951.
In 1952 she was singing small roles at Covent Garden. Critics saw her
career developing in the heavier
operatic roles in Verdi or Wagner. It
was her husband, conductor Richard
Bonynge, who heard something rarer – a bel canto singer.
Gradually, he trained her voice upwards
until it had achieved complete flexibility in
the upper register. It was in the
bel canto role of Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia
di Lammermoor at
Covent Garden in 1959 that she achieved instant
stardom.
International acclaim followed. The Italians called her ‘La Stupenda'. New roles included Amina in La Sonnambula, Violetta
in La Traviata and Elvira in I Puritani. She and Bonynge rediscovered lesser-known operas in the bel canto repertoire, like Donizetti's
La Fille du Régiment, Delibes' Lakmé and Massenet's Esclarmonde.
Joan's voice had a richness and brilliance unusual in coloratura sopranos. In
comedy she had an irrepressible sense
of bubbling fun. Her warmth and complete
lack of affectation endeared
her to audiences worldwide.
She sang her last opera in 1990 back where she began, in Sydney. At the end of the performance of Les Hugugnots she stood before a background
of fireworks spelling out ‘Farewell', wreathed in streamers thrown by a hysterical audience. But on New Year's Eve 1990 she made
a surprise appearance at Covent Garden singing ‘Home Sweet Home' in the party scene of a televised performance of Die Fledermaus
. She then retired to Switzerland to cultivate her garden and indulge her passion for needlepoint.
Introduction
