Culture

Joan Sutherland: Opera Singer Dies at 83

by Jordan Yerman | October 11, 2010 at 10:45 am

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Dame Joan Sutherland: 'La Stupenda'

Joan Sutherland, the legendary Australian-born opera singer, has died at age 83. A soprano, Joan Sutherland was known as "La Stupenda (the stupendous one)", and was called "the voice of the century" by Luciano Pavarotti.

Joan Sutherland made her professional debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 1952, after graduating from the Royal College of Music. Sutherland sang her first lead that same year.

Bel Canto and The Art of the Prima Donna

Joan Sutherland's ablum The Art of the Prima Donna won a Grammy Award in 1962, and her name became closely associated with Bel Canto.

Joan Sutherland's last public appearance was at the end of 1990: after a New Year's Eve performance, she retired to her home in Switzerland.

Her singing was founded on astonishing technique. Her voice was evenly produced throughout an enormous range, from a low G to effortless flights above high C.

After Sutherland's debut in Australia in the late 1940s, her career started to take off on stages in Europe over the following decade.

By the 1960s critics were calling her "La Stupenda" and she was credited with reviving Italian bel canto, following in the footsteps of Maria Callas.