Joan Sutherland

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (November 7, 1926 — October 10, 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano, noted for her contribution to the renaissance of bel canto repertoire initiated in the 1950s by Maria Callas. 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 Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, albeit she was criticised for her nasality and consequent imprecise diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti dubber her "the voice of the century", and Montserrat Caballé described her voice as "being like heaven". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.