Sutherland Memorial Book.Pdf
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,%.o le,.2"o, oo,*,{, %** cs Preludefrom la traviata- GiuseppeVerdi AustralianOpera and BalletOrchestra Conductedby BrianCastles-Onion Welcome AdrianCo[lette AM ChiefExecutive, Opera Australia AustralianNationaI Anthem 'Be[[ Song'from Lakmd- L6oDelibes joan Sutherland TheHonourable Jutia Ci[tard MP PrimeMinister of Austratia 'Parigi, o cara'from la traviata- CiuseppeVerdi JoanSuthertand, Luciano Pavarotti Her ExcettencyProfessor Marie BashirAC, CVO Governorof New SouthWales Mad Scenefrom Luciadi Lammermoor- GaetanoDonizetti JoanSutherland Mr Moffatt OxenbouldAM 'Era dessoit figtiomio' from LucreziaBorgia - CaetanoDonizetti JoanSuthertand MrAdamBonynge 'Va, pensiero'from Nabucco- CiuseppeVerdi AustralianOpera and BatletOrchestra, Opera Australia Chorus Conductedby BrianCastles-Onion Home SweetHome JoanSuthertand 'Casta Diva'fromNorma -VincenzoBellini JoanSuthertand !* .,,ils tI i I JoanSutherland is certainlythe greatestvoice of the century. The late LucianoPavarotti. tenor DameJoan's unique God-given gift hasbeen an inspiration for methroughout my career andthanks to herrecordings, will be inspiringmany singers for yearsto come.She is greatly missed,but hervoice lives on . CherytBarker, soprano WheneverJoan sang, there was always an incredible awareness amongst all thosepresent, that wewere hearing something very special and magical, especially in herdazzling displays of coloratura.I am extremely fortunate to havebeen part of thiswonderfulexperience. CtiffordGrant OAM, bass DameJoan Sutherland was not onlyone of thegreatest singers ever but a trueartist in every sense.Her dedication to herart wasexemplary and the legacyof LaStupenda will be with usalways. PeterColeman-Wright, baritone I rememberstanding on stagenear Joan each night duringthe BellSong in Lakm6,thinking that I mustnever become blasd about beingso closeto suchsupreme art. My goodfortune in beingher colleaguewas sweetened all the moreby herendearing warmth, wit andfriendliness. For me,an honourand a pleasure. John PringleAM, baritone It is an honourfor OperaAustralia to arrangethe program for DameJoan's State Memorial Service.Her stellar talent, and the time sheand her husbandRichard Bonynge invested in Australia,inspired both a great audiencefor opera and the developmentof so manyfine Australianartists.We would not havea moderncompany of suchdepth and significance without her example. Adrian CotletteAM, Chief Executive,Opera Australia Hervoice and careerhave been likea beaconfor all of us.I can't imaginethat anyonein the history of all singingwas ever better. Thankyou for all you gave to us, and to me especially. MaritynHorne, mezzo-soprano Dameloan Sutherlandinspired not only with her voice,but with her loveand appreciationof all who workedwith her. Shegave us such joy. Hervoice could melt the coldestof hearts.Her bel canto heroinesset a benchmark for all who will follow. Thankyou DameJoan for allyou taughtme, for makingme laughand for makingme cry. Restin Peace,La Stupenda. Emma Matthews,soprano ,.,,'%'*t Shutthe doors, Turn out the [ights, Pu[[the curtainto a close. Put awayyour tickets, Packup the chairs, Silencethose who shout'theshow must go on'. Quietenthe piano, Hushviotins, Softenyour voicesand [et the mournersin. Todaywe remember. Not the diva,La Stupenda, the soprano,the dame. But our grandmother,our mother,our one true love,our famity,our friend. Shewas our morningsun, our eveningstar. Shewas more than a voice,she was our song. So; Shutthe doors, Turn out the [ights, Pul[the curtainto a close. And remember. Peacebe with you my darlinggrandmother. Youwitl be in our heartsuntilthe endof davs. NatashaBonynge t;lr$ ffi ffi ffi H ffi-r$l in ffi i ii WhenI arrivedin Londonin 1966to studyat theLondon Opera Centre, I knew almost nobody. A shorttime later, I wastold to be at a masterclass conducted by RichardBonynge - which mademe somewhat nervous - andeven more so when I discoveredthe great Joan Sutherland wasto be thereas well. Butthe two people could not havebeen more friendly and encouraging. The advice they gave meat that veryfirst meetingchanged the direction of mycareer and gave me both inspiration andconfidence. Threeyears later, when I finishedmy courseat the OperaCentre, I wasoffered the chance to be a supportingsoloist at the RoyalFestival Hall, and for thefirst timeI stoodon stagewith DameJoanforaconcertperformanceolAlcina-whichforayoungrecentstudentwasan awe-inspiringexperience. But that great lady was totally supportive - and remained so for all four decadesthat I cameto knowher. Therecan be no doubtthat herswas a uniquevoice - thegreatest of itstime. But her audiences didn'tnecessarily know the great lady behind that voice.She was friendly, approachable, honest, generouswith her time and supportive to younger colleagues. Joan's focus was only on presenting thefinest quality of music,and her wonderful offstage personality was a bonus. Asa singershe had no rivals.Whenshe sang, itwas the sound of heaven. Asa person,she brought pleasure just bybeing in theroom. lt willbe a verylong time before we hearsuch a voiceagain. Andas well asthat weare alsosaying goodbye to a marvellouswoman. Dame KiriTe KanawaONZ, DBE,AC, soprano Joan'ssupreme artistry has given incalculable pleasure to countlessthousands around the world.Nobody lucky enough to haveheard her in thef leshwil! ever forget the sheervisceral thrillofher performances.We, along with those who didn't hear her live, have been hugely enrichedby herastonishing legacy of greatrecordings. The magnificent and timeless Sutherlandvoice now lives on, unforgotten,in thegrateful memory of somany. Wherever she isnow, we hope Joan is singing away, doing those breathtaking vocal leaps and trills that we will neverforget, running around performing mad scenes,and, of course,nailing those high E-flatsevery time. AnthonyFreud, Ceneral Director and CEO; PatrickSummers. Music Director HoustonGrand Ooera Treasuredmemories come to mindabout performing with Joan - to bestanding next to her an stagewas truly amazing, as the magnificence of hervoice resonated throughout her whole bodyand itsenergy radiated to herfellow artists,inspiring our ownperformances. Joan possessedawicked sense of humour,was always down to earthand loyal and supportive to hercolleagues. Not only the greatest voice of the20th Centurybut Joan was a wonderful humanbeing and I wasprivileged to haveknown and worked with her for many years. JenniferBermingham OAM, mezzo-soprano JoanSutherland had no quaLmsabout singing anything. With a superbtechnique built in a lifetimeof dedicationto her art, shewas an inspirationto workwith. To sing with Dame Joan Sutherlandlifted one's own performance to anotherlevel, and I willnever forget the honour andprivilege of workingwith her. Thankyou Joan. LaurisElms AM, OBE, mezzo-soprano Simplyput, DameJoan was Australia's greatest opera singer. She was hailed around the world asLa Stupenda, was a fine ambassadorfor Australiaand made an extraordinarv contribution to operaboth here in Australia and internationallv. LyndonTerracini, Artistic Director,Opera Australia I askedher in thesecond act of DieFledermaus to dancepart of theczardas. She said, "Are you crazy?Dancing it andsinging it at thesame time? you must be joking." Then she'd go ahead anddo it. Shewas very game. Lotfi Mansouri,direcror Whatcan onesay? Joan Sutherland not only possessedthe greatestvoice of the Z\th century shewas alsobrilliant, clever, witty and the mostprofessional colleague with whom t everworked. Whata privilegeit hasbeen for me to singin elevendifferent operas overtheyearswith ourwonderful Dameloan! A singerof herstature with the abilityto creategreat characters on stageis a nrity. RobertAltman AM, OBE, baritone A wonderful colleague,a veryfunny and lovely lady. tt wasthe thril! of a lifetime to have known her and to havesung with her. Thankyou, Joan,for filling my tife with sucha wealth of wonderfulmemories and pleasures. RobertGard OBE, tenor "school's neverout," shealways said. t considermyself fortunate to haveknown Joan Sutherlandas a colleagueand friend. All thosehappy memories of wonderful performances. Sharingthe thrill and beauty of her extraordinaryvocal art. Her masterlytechnique, a 1esson to us all. A light hasbeen extinguished.t will missyou, dearestJoan. CraemeEwer AM, tenor foou A careerthat spannedmore than forty yearsis surelysomething of a phenomenonin the operaticworld. Joan herself tended to betittleher achievements- shewas givena voiceby Cod,she worked hard, learned to singproperly and kept on singing. But how many voicesthroughout history have been able to encompassa wide and amazingly diverserepertoire * sing constantly for forty years in the great opera housesof the wortd and survive? ln her sixtiesshe was still singingNorma, Lucrezia Borgia and Luciain hugetheatres. Her long careerencompassed the baroqueoperas of Hande[,Haydn and Mozart- the nineteenth- centuryltalian and Frenchoperas ranging from the romanticto the verismo- Rossini,Bettini, Donizetti,Verdi, Puccini and Cileain the ltalianschool; Weber and Wagnerin the Cerman schoot;Counod, Delibes and Massenetin the French;with a few foraysinto operettaand a big recitalrepertoire. She sang much modernmusic, both in the theatreand concerthatt, by Britten,Tippett, Walton, Honneger,Frank Martin and Poulenc,not to forget in excessof forty completeopera recordings and countlessdiscs of ariasand songs.Many of the operaswhich shesang had not beenheard in the twentieth centuryor certainlynot for fifty years. Why did this voicesurvive when so many careerstoday areso short,and