A report on Lucia di Lammermoor and Joan Sutherland
After World War II, a number of sopranos were instrumental in giving new life to the opera, including Maria Callas (with performances from 1954 at La Scala and Berlin in 1955 under Herbert von Karajan) and Dame Joan Sutherland (with 1959 and 1960 performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden).
- Lucia di LammermoorIn 1959, Sutherland was invited to sing Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House in a production conducted by Tullio Serafin and staged by Franco Zeffirelli.
- Joan Sutherland5 related topics with Alpha
Maria Callas
2 linksAmerican-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.
American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.
This initial foray into the bel canto repertoire changed the course of Callas's career and set her on a path leading to Lucia di Lammermoor, La traviata, Armida, La sonnambula, Il pirata, Il turco in Italia, Medea, and Anna Bolena, and reawakened interest in the long-neglected operas of Cherubini, Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini.
In 1952, she made her London debut at the Royal Opera House in Norma with veteran mezzo-soprano Ebe Stignani as Adalgisa, a performance which survives on record and also features the young Joan Sutherland in the small role of Clotilde.
Bel canto
1 linksTerm with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
Term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
That situation changed significantly after World War II with the advent of a group of enterprising orchestral conductors and the emergence of a fresh generation of singers such as Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills and Marilyn Horne, who had acquired bel canto techniques.
Today, some of the world's most frequently performed operas, such as Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, are from the bel canto era.
Tullio Serafin
1 linksItalian conductor and former Musical Director at La Scala.
Italian conductor and former Musical Director at La Scala.
During his long career he helped further the careers of many important singers, including Rosa Ponselle, Magda Olivero, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, and most notably Maria Callas, with whom he collaborated on many recordings.
Lucia di Lammermoor (Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi, Arié; 1953) EMI
Luciano Pavarotti
0 linksItalian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time.
Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time.
An early coup involved his connection with Joan Sutherland (and her conductor husband, Richard Bonynge), who in 1963 was seeking a tenor taller than herself to take along on her 1965 tour to Australia.
However, before the summer 1965 Australia tour Pavarotti sang with Joan Sutherland when he made his American début with the Greater Miami Opera in February 1965, singing in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor on the stage of the Miami-Dade County Auditorium in Miami.
Richard Bonynge
0 linksAustralian conductor and pianist.
Australian conductor and pianist.
He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland.
Commencing in 2007, he has conducted a series of performances in a few opera houses around the U.S. (Florida Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre), and now is mostly involved with the Opera Australia company (Lucia di Lammermoor in August 2008, and in 2006 for Opera Queensland; I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Melbourne and Sydney in middle of 2009).