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Sutherland first studied in her native Sydney with her mother, a mezzo-soprano. She later trained formally with John and Aida Dickens, made her concert debut as the tragic heroine of Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" in 1947, won Australia's Sun Aria Competition in 1950 and, in 1951, sang the world premiere of Eugene Goossens' "Judith" at the Sydney Conservatorium. Only months later, the young soprano won a scholarship and moved to London to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She joined the company of Covent Garden, making her Royal Opera debut on October 28, 1952, as the First Lady in "The Magic Flute." Blessed with a voice that seemingly could do anything, Sutherland at first sang roles across the repertory and often far from what would later become her domain. She was Helmwige in "Die Walküre," the Overseer in "Elektra," Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera" and even Aida, as well as Jenifer in the world premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's enigmatic "A Midsummer Marriage" and Mme. Lidoine in the British premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites." An early bel canto venture would become the stuff of opera lore, as Sutherland sang the small role of Clotilde to Maria Callas' Norma at Covent Garden in 1952.
In 1954, she married her fellow Australian Richard Bonynge, a brilliant musician and conductor. Under his loving guidance, Sutherland began delving into the intricacies of rare operatic jewels of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a revelation to hear a voice of obviously Wagnerian proportions produce the coloratura fireworks the bel canto repertory demands. It was astounding that such a huge voice also could retain its color, heft, warmth and sheer loveliness under the most intense pressure. With superhuman ease, the range of her voice grew to encompass a vocal range from the mezzo territory up to stratospheric E above the staff.
The collaboration with Bonynge paid off handsomely when Sutherland had the chance of a lifetime: her first Lucia di Lammermoor, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and conducted by Callas' mentor, Tullio Serafin, at Covent Garden on February 17, 1959. It was a debut that changed opera history. What followed was the stuff of opera dreams. Sutherland made her Italian debut at La Fenice in Venice with Handel's "Alcina." Her success in the city that had dubbed Callas "La Divina," earned her the nickname "La Stupenda" among her Italian fans. Paris heard her Lucia in 1960. In 1961, Sutherland took her mad Donizetti heroine both to La Scala in Milan and to the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
By then, the Sutherland-Bonynge team was unbeatable. Role followed great role in giddy succession, with the standard repertory in every major house on top of rarities such as "Maria Stuarda" and later "Esclarmonde" in San Francisco, "Lucrezia Borgia" in Vancouver, "Lakme" in Seattle, "Hamlet" in Toronto, and "Adriana Lecouvreur" in San Diego, where she famously later alternated in the roles of Adele and Rosalinde in "Die Fledermaus" with her friend Beverly Sills. The list of Sutherland's collaborators is an honor roll of great singers of our age: Marilyn Horne, most unforgettably, as well as Montserrat Caballe, Huguette Tourangeau, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and many others who would testify to the generosity and selflessness of the Australian diva's genius.
"We don't really know how it all happened," reflected Bonynge on their success. "We are both supremely ordinary people with the most ordinary tastes in the world. We are full of energy and don't know the meaning of boredom. We love life and are happy it has worked out the way it has." So is everyone who loves music.
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