Joan Sutherland

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Image:Sutherlandnorma.jpgDame Joan Sutherland OM, AC, DBE (born November 7, 1926) is an Australian opera singer noted for her contribution to the bel canto revival of the 1950s and 1960s.

Joan Sutherland was born in Sydney, and her mother was a mezzo soprano who had given up her career. She learned a lot from her mother, with whom she used to sing and listen to many recordings. She attended St Catherine's School, Waverley, the oldest Anglican girls' school in Sydney. When Sutherland was 18, she started to study singing seriously. She debuted in Australia as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, in 1952. Previously, in 1949, she had won Australia's most important competition, The Sun Aria and went to London to study at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music. In 1951, she sang in the world premiere of Eugène Goossens's Judith. She made her European debut as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on October 28, 1952.

During her early career, she was training to be a Wagnerian dramatic soprano, following the steps of Kirsten Flagstad, whom she considers the best singer ever. In 1953, she sang her first title role at the Royal Opera House: Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. Later, she sang Aida. Also in 1953, she sang in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana. In 1954, she married the conductor and pianist, Richard Bonynge. He convinced her to concentrate on the bel canto repertoire, since she had great ease at the high notes and coloratura. From 1954 to 1958, she sang successfully a large repertoire, from coloratura roles to dramatic ones: Eva in Die Meistersinger, Agathe in Der Freischütz, Desdemona in Otello, Gilda in Rigoletto, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and many others.

In 1957, she debuted as Alcina, starting her work on rediscovering the forgotten operas from the Baroque and Bel Canto eras. In 1958, she sang Madame Lidoine in the English premiere of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.

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La Stupenda

Image:Liciamermoor.jpgIn 1959, she was invited to sing Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House in a production conducted by Tullio Serafin and staged by Franco Zeffirelli. It was a breakthrough for Sutherland's career, and as soon as she finished the famous Mad Scene, she was a star. In 1960, she recorded the album The Art of the Prima Donna, which is still one of the most recommended opera albums ever recorded. On this album is a collection of coloratura arias, all showing the young Sutherland at her very best at the beginning of her career.

In 1960, Sutherland was already known as a vocal miracle and a great diva. She sang Lucia to great acclaim in Paris and, in 1961, at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1960, she sang a superb Alcina at La Fenice, Venice, where she was nicknamed La Stupenda (The Stupendous One). Sutherland would soon be called La Stupenda all around the world. She also sang Alcina at the Dallas Opera, with which she made her US debut the same year.

Joan Sutherland added the greatest heroines of bel canto in her repertoire: Violetta (La Traviata), Amina (La Sonnambula) and Elvira (I Puritani) in 1960; Beatrice di Tenda in 1961; Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) and Semiramide in 1962; Norma and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) in 1963. She later added Marie (La Fille du Régiment), which is one of her most admired roles, because of her perfect coloratura and lively, funny interpretation.

During the 70s, her voice became more expressive and she improved her diction. Then, she added dramatic roles like Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and Lucrezia Borgia and Massenet's extremely difficult Esclarmonde. She even recorded a successful Turandot in 1972, though she never performed the role on stage.

In the late 70s, Sutherland's voice started to decline. However, thanks to her vocal flexibility and flawless technique, she continued singing the most difficult roles amazingly well. During the 80s, she added Anna Bolena, Amelia in I masnadieri and Adriana Lecouvreur to her repertoire. Her last performance was as Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) in 1990, at the age of 64. However, her last public appearance took place in a gala recital with her friends, Luciano Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne.

During her career and after, Sutherland received many prizes. In 1961, Sutherland was made a Commander of the British Empire. She was further elevated from Commander to Dame Commander on December 30, 1978. On June 9, 1975, Dame Joan was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. On November 29, 1991, the Queen bestowed on Dame Joan the Order of Merit, one of Britain and Australia's highest honours and within the Queen's personal gift.

In 2004 she received a Kennedy Center Honour for her outstanding achievement throughout her career. Joan Sutherland appears in many international vocal competitions and is the patron of the famous BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She had one of the longest careers in the history of opera and her many studio recordings, mostly for the DECCA/London label, are best-sellers.

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Vocal description

Sutherland is one of the best examples of dramatic coloratura soprano. She had a very big and rounded voice even in the highest notes. Her middle range was always creamy and rich, though some criticize about her sometimes cloudy middle notes. As for her low range, she could reach deep mezzo notes, but her low notes never had the volume and spontaneity of Maria Callas or Leyla Gencer. On the other hand, her high notes were unsurpassed. She could hit a large and brilliant high E without any strain even in her late career (though her high notes got smaller and smaller with age) and sing a long and high coloratura line in full voice. Through most of her career, she is noted for her perfect legato, perfectly even from bottom to top (from low G to high F-sharp, G3-F#6).

Until 1962 or so, her voice was silvery and girlish. Then she had to re-train her technique after a sinus surgery and she got a creamier, darker and firmer voice, and the girly voice was lost. During her decline in the 1980s, her voice tended to have a wobble and a cloudy middle range, but many times she overcame these faults by using her superb technique. Many criticise her for her unclear diction, which appeared after the surgery. This improved later in her career, but never got the way it was during the fifties and early sixties.

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External links

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