Dame Joan Sutherland

Dame Joan Sutherland 1926-, Australian soprano. Sutherland studied at the Sydney Conservatory, where she made her debut in Eugene Goossen's Judith in 1951. Beginning in 1952 she was a leading singer at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. She debuted at both La Scala, Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in 1961. Sutherland was considered unsurpassed in the bel canto repertory among contemporary singers. She was particularly celebrated for her singing of the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. She frequently performed with her husband, Richard Bonynge, conducting. She was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1979, and she retired in 1990.

Bibliography: See her autobiography (1998); biographies by R. R. Braddon (1962) and E. Greenfield (1973).

Sutherland, Dame Joan (1926– ) Australian coloratura soprano. Sutherland made her London début in Die Zauberflöte (1952), but it was her performance in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (1959) that earned her worldwide acclaim. She went on to perform in all the world's major opera houses before her retirement in 1990.