Joan Sutherland
Hearing Sutherland at the Met: “It was…a reminder of how an exceptional gift, carefully developed and generously used, changed the operatic landscape.”
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“The career of the soprano Joan Sutherland, who died on Sunday at the age of 83, changed the opera world. Thanks to her distinctive vocal character and her very clever husband and collaborator, the conductor Richard Bonynge…Sutherland brought bel canto back into mainstream opera-house repertoire. Maria Callas had started the process, but the tall, plain-spoken Australian extended and solidified it. Sutherland’s voice, with its remarkable range coupled with power, flexibility and a creamy, effortless beauty, was the key.” On hearing Sutherland at the Met in the ’80s: “…a reminder of how an exceptional gift, carefully developed and generously used, changed the operatic landscape.”
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