'The greatest soprano of her time, Joan Sutherland was blessed with formidable technique, a voice that brought her the title La Stupenda, and an unspoiled Australian nature that kept vanity and pretension at bay.'
In Italy to sing Alcina, Venetians went mad with delight, tore down La Fenice's flower decorations, threw them on to the stage and shouted "La Stupenda". In her autobiography A Prima Donna's Progress, Sutherland acknowledged with typical understatement the name that would accompany her for the rest of her life: "I was quite thrilled with my new title".
In 1961, Sutherland and Bonynge leased a villa in Switzerland, a place by Lake Maggiore that allowed quick access to Milan and other European opera houses. And as a regular sufferer of sinusitis and throat ailments, the climate was far better than the damp airs of London. Switzerland was eventually to become their home.
Also in 1961, she made her debut at the Metropolitan in New York where she sang Lucia and was mobbed afterwards on the street. In the opera house, the audience refused to cease their ovations. At the party in a hotel, an extra room had to be hired for the flowers.
This is old news, but La Stupenda was the best and this was the best obituary that came out at the time. The audio remembrance is worth listening to, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment