Dame Joan Sutherland |
Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (born November 7, 1926) is an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano. She is particularly noted for her contribution to the bel canto renaissance of the 1950s and 1960s.
Sutherland is known for her soprano voice of Wagnerian proportions with its extreme flexibility, ethereal presence and instantly recognisable unique silvery timbre. She was hailed La Stupenda after an Alcina performance in La Fenice in 1960.
Early life and career
Joan Sutherland was born in Sydney. 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 Catherines School, Waverley, the oldest Anglican girls school in Sydney.
When Sutherland was 18, she started to study singing seriously. She made her debut in Australia as Dido in Purcells Dido and Aeneas, in 1952. Previously, in 1950, she had won Australias 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 performances of Eugene Goossenss Judith. She made her European debut as the First Lady in Die Zauberflete at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on October 28, 1952. In November of the same year she gave five more performances at Covent Garden in Bellinis Norma in the role of Clotilde, with Maria Callas as Norma.
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 1952, she sang her first leading 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 Brittens 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 Eva in Die Meistersinger, Agathe in Der Freischotz, Desdemona in Otello, Gilda in Rigoletto, to Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and many others.
In 1957, she made her debut as Handels 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 Poulencs Dialogues of the Carmelites.
In 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 Sutherlands career, and, upon the completion of the famous Mad Scene, she had become a star.
In 1960, she recorded the album The Art of the Prima Donna, which remains today one of the most recommended opera albums ever recorded; the double LP set won a Grammy Award the following year. The album, a collection consisting mainly of coloratura arias, provides an opportunity to listen to the young Sutherland at the beginning of her international career. It displays her seemingly effortless coloratura abilities, high notes and large opulent tones, as well as her unique and ubiquitous trill, which she is identified by and for which she is widely admired.
In 1960, Sutherland had already established a reputation 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 praised as La Stupenda in newspapers and curtain calls all around the world. Later that year, Sutherland sang Alcina at the Dallas Opera, with which she made her US debut.
Joan Sutherland added the greatest heroines of bel canto ("beautiful singing") in her repertoire: Violetta in Verdis La Traviata, Amina in Bellinis La Sonnambula and Elvira in Bellinis I Puritani in 1960; Bellinis Beatrice di Tenda in 1961; Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeers Les Huguenots and Semiramide in Rossinis Semiramide in 1962; Norma in Bellinis Norma and Cleopatra in Handels Giulio Cesare in 1963. She later added Marie in Donizettis La Fille du Regiment, which became one of her most adored roles, because of her perfect coloratura and lively, funny interpretation.
In 1965, Sutherland toured Australia with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company. Accompanying her was a young tenor named Luciano Pavarotti, whose very presence proved to be a major milestone in the careers of both singers. Every performance featuring Sutherland sold out.
During the 1970s, Sutherland improved her diction and increased the expressiveness of her voice. Sutherland continued to add dramatic roles to her repertoire, such as Donizettis Maria Stuarda and Lucrezia Borgia and Massenets extremely difficult Esclarmonde, a role that few sopranos pursue. She even recorded a successful Turandot in 1972 under the baton of Zubin Mehta, though she never performed the role on stage.
Sutherlands early recordings show her to be possessed of a crystal-clear voice and excellent diction. Howe'ver, by the early-1960s, her voice lost some of this clarity in the middle register, and she often came under fire for having extremely poor diction.
Some have attributed this to sinus surgery; howe'ver, her major sinus surgery was done in 1959, immediately after her breakthrough Lucia at Covent Garden. In fact, her first commercial recording of the first and final scene of Lucia reveals her voice and diction to be just as clear as prior to the sinus procedure.
Her husband, Richard Bonynge stated in an interview that her "mushy diction"occurred while striving to achieve perfect legato. According to him, it is because she earlier had a very Germanic "un-legato"way of singing. She clearly took the criticism to heart, as, within a few years, her diction improved markedly and she continued to amaze and thrill audiences throughout the world.
In the late 1970s, Sutherlands voice started to decline. Howe'ver, thanks to her vocal flexibility and flawless technique, she continued singing the most difficult roles amazingly well. During the 1980s, she added Anna Bolena, Amelia in I masnadieri and Adriana Lecouvreur to her repertoire.
Her last performance was as Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) at the Sydney Opera House in 1990, at the age of 64. Her last public appearance, howe'ver, took place in a gala performance of Die Fledermaus on New Years Eve, 1990, at Covent Garden, where she was accompanied by her friends, Luciano Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne.
During her career and after, Sutherland received many honours and awards. In 1961, Sutherland was made a Commander of the British Empire. She also won an Australian of the Year award in 1961. 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 Australias highest honours and within the Queens personal gift.
In 2004, she received a Kennedy Center Honor for her outstanding achievement throughout her career. In January of that year she also received the Australia Post Australian Legends Award which honours Australians who have contributed to the Australian identity and culture. Two stamps featuring Joan Sutherland were issued on Australia Day 2004 to mark the award.
Both Sutherland House at St Catherines School, Sydney and The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (JSPAC), Penrith are named in honour of her.
❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Dame Joan Sutherland
➼ Joan Sutherland - Wikipedia
➼ Tribute to Joan Sutherland
➼ Decca Music Group - Joan Sutherland
➼ Internet Movie Database - Joan Sutherland
❊ Also See.. ❊
➼ Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre
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