Australian Women's Register

An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne

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Sutherland, Joan Alston (1926 - 2010)

Dame, OM, DBE

Born
7 November 1926
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died
10 October 2010
Montreux, Switzerland
Occupation
Opera singer
Alternative Names
  • Bonynge, Joan

Summary

Dame Joan Sutherland was appointed as a Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 30 December 1978 for services to the performing arts. She was also appointed to the Order of Merit in 1991 for Services to opera and singing. In 1983 she was described as, 'quite simply, the greatest and most beloved singer in the world today'. She is known universally, and accurately, as 'La Stupenda'.

Details

Events

7 November 1926
Born: Daughter of McDonald and Muriel Alston Sutherland
12 October 1946
Married: Richard Bonynge.
1947
Debut as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (Sydney)
1951
Moved to London
1952
Joined Covent Garden and remained resident soprano for seven years
1959
Won international fame with debut as Lucia di Lammermoor (Convent Garden)
1986
Published: The Joan Sutherland Album (w. R Bonynge)
1997
Published: A Prima Donna's Progress : the autobiography of Joan Sutherland

Sources used to compile this entry: Macklin, Robert, 100 great Australians, Currey O'Neil Ross, South Yarra, Vic., 1983, 248 pp; Oxenbould, Moffatt, 'A big voice with a heart to match - Dame Joan Sutherland 1926-2010', The Australian, 13 October 2010, p. 19.

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Books

  • Adams, Brian, La Stupenda, 2 edn, Random House Australia, Milsons Point, N.S.W., 1993, 449 pp. Details
  • Major, Norma, Joan Sutherland : the authorized biography, 2 edn, Little, Brown, London, 1994, 324 pp. Details
  • Sutherland, Joan, A prima donna's progress : the autobiography of Joan Sutherland., Random House Australia, Milsons Point, N.S.W., 1997, 486 pp. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Oxenbould, Moffatt, 'A big voice with a heart to match - Dame Joan Sutherland 1926-2010', The Australian, 13 October 2010, p. 19. Details

Online Resources

See also

Clare Land

Created: 24 April 2002, Last modified: 6 February 2013

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

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http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0053b.htm

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