JOAN SUTHERLAND 1926-2010
Joan Sutherland – the voice of the century – as she was once described by Luciano Pavarotti, died peacefully at home in Switzerland on 10/10/10, but she lives on in some of the best recordings of that century which is wonderful for her fans and daunting for singers who follow her.
The Sutherland voice – pure, strong and expressive – with a range that could make a lark weep, was unmistakable. The notoriously picky La Fenice mob dubbed her “La Stupenda” and she was also known as the Queen of bel canto. Appropriately, in 1961 the lifelong monarchist was made CBE, in 1979 she was elevated to DBE. Before that she was awarded one of the first Companions of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1975. She retired from the stage, finally, in 1989 and the Queen gave her the Order of Merit (OM) in 1991. She appeared in the greatest opera houses of the world, but she and husband Richard Bonynge also devoted years to raising the profile of Australia’s variously named national company and its home at the Sydney Opera House.
Dame Joan may have been a prima donna on stage, but not off it. She was humble and matter-of-fact despite her rarified status and thought nothing of queuing for a cuppa along with the rest of the workers in the Opera House Green Room. She passed her time in dressing rooms and rehearsal studios quietly doing a bit of petit point and, in later years, her only complaint was that a long career of crashing dramatically to her knees to die or be ravished had given her painful arthritis in both joints.
Everyone who met or worked with her has a “Dame Joan story” and mine is simple: arriving, as a journalist, to one of the many “farewell” events she had to endure, I was early, so was she. Nothing was ready and one of the anxious organisers asked if I would go over and keep her company. I had no idea that she wouldn’t bite my head off or be dismissive and quaked as I was pushed in her direction.
It turned out she was very happy to have a bit of company and she lit the room with that great, big warm smile; patted the seat beside her and began to ask me questions. She seemed genuinely interested, what I learned of her later suggested she was. I asked her if she really wanted to retire and she laughed. “I can’t wait,” she said, and that’s when she told me about her poor knees. Then I asked what she was most looking forward to: “my garden,” she said, explaining that she was so rarely there for very long, she wanted to be there over an entire season: spring, summer, autumn and winter. It seemed to me to be such a simple and poignant wish – and typical of the great lady. Then she added, with a big grin, “And I’m really looking forward to eating cheese!”
Decca and the ABC are releasing celebratory compilations of Dame Joan’s greatest hits in the next few days; there are more than 40 recordings available anyway, including the fabled 1960 Grammy award-winner The Art of the Prima Donna; and Opera Australia is organising a celebration too. That she is no longer ill, not in pain and not suffering is as much cause for celebration as her stupendous career and achievements. “She's had a long life and gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people,” was the word from the family. Dame Joan requested a small, private funeral service.
