Dame Joan SutherlandPrint Page

The sculpture commemorates Dame Joan Sutherland who first sang in Sydney Town Hall in a student performance of the "Christmas Oratorio" in 1946. She maintained that the opportunity to sing in Sydney`s Town Hall represented a pinnacle in her career.

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.

One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "supremely" pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Sutherland was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for Best Classical Performance-Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra) in 1962.

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