Joan Sutherland Sydney, Australia, November 7, 1926 — Les Avants, Switzerland, October 10, 2010 A dramatic coloratura of phenomenal ability, Sutherland acquired the (entirely accurate) nickname of La Stupenda after a performance of Handels Alcina at La Fenice in Venice in 1960. A proud native of Australia, Sutherland moved to London to study voice and was engaged by Covent Garden as a member of the resident company in 1952. She sang a variety of roles in London — everything from Mozart, Verdi and Wagner to the world premiere of Tippetts Midsummer Marriage — before being cast in 1959 as Donizettis Lucia in a new Covent Garden staging directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The production marked a career breakthrough for Sutherland: for the rest of her career, the soprano was celebrated for her performances of early-nineteenth-century Italian repertoire, such as Bellinis Norma, La Sonnambula, Beatrice di Tenda and I Puritani, Rossinis Semiramide and Donizettis Lucia, La Fille du Régiment and Lucrezia Borgia. She made her U.S. debut at Dallas Opera, as Alcina, in 1960; other important associations for Sutherland in North America included San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vancouver Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her company debut as Lucia, in 1961. Sutherland sings Ah sento, o mio bel angiolo, from Bellinis Puritani, on American television in 1966. youtube/watch?v=UwhiKxAGRjs
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 21:40:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015