Joan Sutherland

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Joan Sutherland as Haydn's Euridice, Vienna 1967
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Joan Sutherland as Haydn's Euridice, Vienna 1967

Dame 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.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] 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 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. In November of the same year she gave four more performances at Covent Garden in Bellini's 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 1953, 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 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.

[edit] La Stupenda

Joan Sutherland in her celebrated role of Lucia de Lammermoor, in the Mad Scene
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Joan Sutherland in her celebrated role of Lucia de Lammermoor, in the Mad Scene

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 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. This album, which is a collection of coloratura arias, shows 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.

Sutherland's early recordings show her to be possessed of a crystal-clear voice and excellent diction. However, by the early 1960's, her voice lost some of this clarity in the middle register, and she was often came under fire for having extremely poor diction. Some have attributed this to sinus surgery, however, her major sinus surgery was done in 1959, immediately after her breakthrough Lucia at Covent Garden. [1] 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. She clearly took the criticism to heart, since within a few years, her diction improved markedly and she continued to amaze and thrill audiences throughout the world.

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 performance of Die Fledermaus on New Year's Eve, 1990, at Covent Garden, with her friends, Luciano Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne.

[edit] Honours and awards

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.

 Joan Sutherland on the cover of one of the many Decca re-releases of her albums.
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Joan Sutherland on the cover of one of the many Decca re-releases of her albums.

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 made many studio recordings, mostly for the Decca/London label.

[edit] Recordings

Recordings include:

Vincenzo Bellini

  • I Puritani — Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Margreta Elkins (Enrichetta di Francia), Pierre Duval (Arturo Talbot); Piero de Palma (Sir Bruno Robertson), Renato Capecchi (Sir Riccardo Forth), Ezio Flagello (Sir Giorgio), Giovanni Fioiani (Lord Gualtiero Valton), Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge (conductor) - recorded 1963 – Decca 448 969-2 / Decca 467 789-2 (part of a 10-CD set) / London POCL 3965-7
  • La Sonnambula — Joan Sutherland (Amina), Sylvia Stahlman (Lisa), Margreta Elkins (Teresa), Nicola Monti (Elvino), Angelo Mercuriali (Notary), Fernando Corena (Rodolfo), Giovanni Fioiani (Alessio), Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge recorded 1962 – Decca 00289 448 9662 6 / 000320702 / 455 823-2 — Track listing
  • Norma — Joan Sutherland (Norma), Margreta Elkins (Adalgisa), Ronald Stevens (Pollione), Clifford Grant (Oroveso), Etela Piha (Clotilde), Trevor Brown (Flavio), The Opera Australia Chorus, The Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1978 – DVD Arthaus Musik 100 180

Giovanni Bononcini

Gaetano Donizetti

  • Emilia di Liverpool (excerpts) / Lucia di Lammermoor (excerpts) — Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Joao Gibin (Edgardo), Tullio Serafin (conductor). Recorded 26 February 1959 – Myto Records MCD 91545 (Probably these are excerpts from the same performance as the Melodram recording.)
  • Lucia di Lammermoor — Joan Sutherland (Lucia), João Gibin (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Robert Bowman (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tullio Serafin, recorded 1959 – Golden Melodram GM 50024 or Giuseppe di Stefano GDS 21017 or Bella Voce BLV 107 218 (highlights). 2006 release: Royal Opera House Heritage Series ROHS 002.
  • Lucia di Lammermoor — Joan Sutherland (Lucia), André Turp (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Edgar Evans (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Pritchard, recorded 1961 - Celestial Audio CA 345
  • Lucrezia Borgia — Joan Sutherland (Lucrezia Borgia), Ronald Stevens (Gennaro), Margreta Elkins (Maffio Orsini), Richard Allman (Don Alfonso), Robin Donald (Jacopo Liveretto), Lyndon Terracini (Don Apostolo Gazella), Gregory Yurisich (Ascanio Petrucci), Lamberto Furlan (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Pieter Van der Stolk (Gubetta), Graeme Ewer (Rustighello), John Germain (Astolfo), Neville Grave (Un servo), Eddie Wilden (Un coppiere), Jennifer Bermingham (Principessa Negroni), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1977. VHS Video Cassette - Castle Video CV2845 (PAL); Polygram-Vidéo 070 031-3 (SECAM) Polygram 079 261-3 (PAL)
  • Maria Stuarda — Joan Sutherland (Maria), Huguette Tourangeau (Elisabeta), Luciano Pavarotti (Leicester), Roger Soyer (Talbot), Margreta Elkins (Anna), James Morris (Cecil), Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Richard Bonynge recorded 1975 – Decca 00289 425 4102 / Lyrica LRC 1040/1041 — Track listing and excerpts

Charles Gounod

George Frideric Handel

  • Alcina — Joan Sutherland (Alcina), Margreta Elkins (Ruggiero), Lauris Elms (Bradamante), Richard Greager (Oronte), Narelle Davidson (Morgana), Ann-Maree McDonald (Oberto), John Wegner (Melisso), Chorus and Orchestra of Australian Opera, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1983. Celestial Audio CA 112
  • Alcina coupled with Giulio Cesare in Egitto (highlights) — Margreta Elkins (Giulio Cesare), Joan Sutherland (Cleopatra), Marilyn Horne (Cornelia), Monica Sinclair (Tolomeo), Richard Conrad (Sesto), New Symphonic Orchestra of London, Richard BonyngeDecca 00289 433 7232 / 467063-2 / 467 067-2 — Track listing and excerpts
  • Rodelinda – Alfred Hallett (Grimoaldo), Raimund Herincx (Garibaldo), Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Dame Janet Baker (Eduige), Margreta Elkins (Bertarido), Patricia Kern (Unolfo), Chandos Singers, Philomusica Antiqua Orchestra, Charles Farncombe. An English language version, recorded live on 24 June 1959. – Opera D'oro OPD 1189 (2 CDs) or Memories HR 4577-4578 or Living Stage LS 403 35147 (highlights).
  • Rodelinda – Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Huguette Tourangeau (Bertarido), Eric Tappy (Grimoaldo), Margreta Elkins (Eduige), Cora Canne-Meijer (Unolfo), Pieter Van Den Berg (Garibaldo), Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded 30 June 1973 – Bella Voce BLV 10 7206.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • Idomeneo — Sergei Baigildin (Idomeneo), Margreta Elkins (Idamante), Henri Wilden (Arbace), Leona Mitchell (Ilia), Joan Sutherland (Elettra), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1979. Gala GLH 826 (highlights) and Celestial Audio CA 060 (highlights)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joan Sutherland, Russen Braddon, 1962

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Australian of the Year
1961
Succeeded by
Alexander 'Jock' Sturrock