Legendary Soprano: Dame Joan Sutherland (Opera Documentary)

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A fascinating portrait of Joan Sutherland, the Australian operatic soprano internationally acclaimed for her coloratura roles.

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From Opera Legends

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[crisha]

I'm a massive Joan Sutherland fan. Although I enjoyed this documentary, a lot of information is inaccurate. It saddens me that there was not the sufficient effort in paying respect to this wonderful artist as it should be

[wotan]

This was great fun since I was privileged to see Dame Joan onstage at least a dozen times. But whoever produced/edited this video made so many errors, it’s almost laughable. She never officially trained with her mother, she didn’t make her Glyndebourne debut in Puritani, she didn’t sing a duet with Callas, Ayrton became one of her dearest friends, and the so-called Marilyn Horne shown here is actually Margreta Elkins. What a mess. The only thing they got right was that she was one of the great operatic artists of all time.

[SpecialtyHorseTraining]

At 16 years old the first opera I saw was Sutherland in Lucia. Those high staccato notes like starbursts in the night sky!

[allanmoore]

There are quite few mistakes in the narration, but the clips of Sutherland's singing are marvelous, always a pleasure to listen to this marvel of a singer. I was lucky enough to see her multiple times on stage.

[sutherland]

25:55 - "set to debut on the Metropolitan Opera stage as Lucia di Lammermoor ... just before it was about to start she received the news that her mother had died" Sutherland heard the news of her mother's death in Feb. 1961, the day she made her New York City debut in a concert performance of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at Town Hall. Her Met debut was in November 1961.

[MrStpendouslvforjo]

I enjoyed that. Thank you for posting it!

[sutherland]

18:56 - "Maestro Zeffirelli cast her in Lucia di Lammermoor" it was David Webster who cast her in Lucia di Lammermoor. Zeffirelli did not know her at all before the rehearsals started.

[jochemb.]

This is really stupid, talking about the collaboration of Joan Sutherland with Marilyn Horne in Norma and then showing Margreta Elkins!👎👎👎

[sutherland]

8:20 - "In 1947 Joan was offered the role if Dido in Dido and Aeneas. Joan then received the shocking news of her older sister's suicide; a heartbroken Joan still found the courage to go on stage that evening" Sutherland sang Dido in 1947 but her sister's suicide was not until 1949, not on a day when Sutherland had a scheduled performance

[mauricioszwerdszarf]

Please do one on Leontyne price! Many Thanks!

[Eiswirth]

She wasn't "one of the greats"...she was THE greatest.

[timfincham]

She got on very well with Norman Ayrton, just look at how she greeted him on her ‘ This is your life’

[WilsonWatt-qe]

Sutherland never sang Turandot onstage. Her only singing of the role was the recording with Caballe as Liu and conducted by Mehta. It would have been nice if you had used a clip of Sutherland actually singing with Horne; the mezzo you show was Margreta Elkins who sang the of Adalgisa during the final Australian tour. Her Bolena was spectacular. I saw her in it in 1987 at the Lyric Opera Chicago.

[sutherland]

12:58 - "she sings a duet in Norma with Maria Callas" there is no formal duet for the roles of Clotilde and Norma, just a few lines exchanged to set up the scene

[ahogbin]

I'm a huge fan but there is much sloppiness in this documentary.

[sutherland]

The person who paid the producer of this program should demand a full refund.

[joshuamcpherson]

I enjoyed this video, even if there appear to be some inaccuracies. Her mother Muriel died on the eve of her New York debut performance of Beatrice di Tenda, not Lucia di Lammermoor. Also, her trill was always there, since girlhood...Richard played no part in her learning to trill.

[JoanSutherlandFan]

18:20 *Exclusive Decca artist* and they used a song she recorded under EMI.

[sutherland]

18:20 - "she was a Decca exclusive recording artist and she remains that throughout her career" she recorded Donna Anna in Don Giovanni which is available on EMI, not Decca

[sutherland]

30:13 - "when Joan performed in Puccini's Turandot alongside Montserrat Caballe she actually, to avoid dramatic clash, she stepped to the side and let Montserrat Caballe take the center stage position ...." Sutherland and Caballe never sang together in a live performance. Sutherland and Caballe made a studio recording of Turandot. There was never a performance in which Joan stepped to the side for Caballe.