Joan Sutherland

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Lore & Background

Joan Sutherland was born in Sydney, Australia, to Scottish parents and attended St Catherine's School in the suburb of Waverley, New South Wales. As a child, she listened to and imitated her mother's singing exercises. Her mother, a mezzo-soprano, had taken voice lessons but never considered singing as a career. Sutherland was 18 years old when she began seriously studying voice with John and Aida Dickens. She made her concert debut in Sydney, as Dido in a production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, in 1947. In 1949, as well as winning Australia's most important competition, the (Sydney) Sun Aria, Joan Sutherland came third after the baritone Ronal Jackson in radio 3DB's £1,000 Mobil Quest; Joan Sutherland won the Mobil Quest the next year (1950). In 1951, she made her stage debut in Eugene Goossens's Judith. She then went to London to further her studies at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music with Clive Carey. She was engaged by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as a utility soprano, and made her debut there on 28 October 1952, as the First Lady in The Magic Flute, followed in November by a few performances as Clotilde in Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma, with Maria Callas as Norma. Being an admirer of Kirsten Flagstad in her early career, she trained to be a Wagnerian dramatic soprano. In December 1952, she sang her first leading role at the Royal Opera House, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Sutherland married Australian conductor and pianist Richard Bonynge on 16 October 1954. Their son, Adam, was born in 1956. Bonynge gradually convinced her that Wagner might not be her Fach, and that since she could produce high notes and coloratura with great ease, she should perhaps explore the bel canto repertoire. She eventually settled in this Fach, spending most of her career singing dramatic coloratura soprano.

Reader's Guide

Joan Sutherland's significance lies in her central role in reviving the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. Her voice combined agility, accurate intonation, pinpoint staccatos, a trill and a strong upper register, though her diction was often criticized. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for her 1961 album The Art of the Prima Donna. Her 1959 performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Tullio Serafin and staged by Franco Zeffirelli, was a breakthrough. She went on to sing Lucia to great acclaim in Paris in 1960 and, in 1961, at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. For her Met performance of Lucia di Lammermoor, standees began lining up at 7:30 that morning. Her singing of the Mad Scene drew a 12-minute ovation. She added many bel canto heroines to her repertoire, including Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, Amina in Bellini's La sonnambula and Elvira in Bellini's I puritani in 1960; the title role in Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda in 1961; Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots and the title role in Rossini's Semiramide in 1962; Norma in Bellini's Norma and Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare in 1963; and Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment in 1966. During the 1970s, she strove to improve her diction and increase the expressiveness of her interpretations. Her last full-length dramatic performance was as Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) at the Sydney Opera House in 1990, at the age of 63, where she sang Home Sweet Home for her encore. She considered her performances and recordings of Esclarmonde her best achievement. After retirement, she lived quietly in Switzerland, making few public appearances. Her legacy endures as one of the greatest sopranos of all time.

Did You Know?

• Sutherland was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for the year 1961 Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist, presented in 1962.
• For her Metropolitan Opera debut as Lucia di Lammermoor on 26 November 1961, standees began lining up at 7:30 that morning, and her Mad Scene drew a 12-minute ovation.
• She married Australian conductor and pianist Richard Bonynge on 16 October 1954; he convinced her to switch from Wagnerian soprano to the bel canto repertoire.
• Her last full-length dramatic performance was as Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots at the Sydney Opera House in 1990, at age 63, where she sang Home Sweet Home for her encore.
• In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, she said her biggest achievement was singing the title role in Esclarmonde, which she considered her best performances and recordings.