• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: IMP0053

Sutherland, Joan Alston

  • Dame, OM, DBE
  • Bonynge, Joan
(1926 – 2010)
  • Born 7 November, 1926, Sydney New South Wales Australia
  • Died 10 October, 2010, Montreux Switzerland
  • Occupation Opera singer

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’.

Events

  • 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

  • 2046

    Married: Richard Bonynge.

  • 2026

    Born: Daughter of McDonald and Muriel Alston Sutherland

Published resources

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