A Prima Donna's Progress: The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland - Softcover

Sutherland, Joan

3.22

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9780895263087: A Prima Donna's Progress: The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0895263084 ISBN 13: 9780895263087

Publisher: Regnery Pub, 1999

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Her extensive TV appearances and her populist touch have made Joan Sutherland one of the most beloved and well known opera stars in history.

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Review:

Don't look to this book--a genuine autobiography, with no taint of the ghostwriter's art--for dirt and gossip, for hints on how best to interpret such bel canto roles as the heroine of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, or for help with developing a bel canto technique of one's own. The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland is a book for the true fans of the great Australian prima donna, one of the finest sopranos of all time, and one of the most hard-working and professional singers to appear in recent decades. Sutherland primarily chronicles her life as an operatic diva; she skips rather quickly through her childhood, even dealing with the trauma of her father's death on her 6th birthday in a single tight-lipped paragraph. You may find many more details than you need on her travels and performances, but what shines through is the portrait of a dedicated artist who readily acknowledges what she owes to her colleagues, and most particularly to her husband/coach/conductor, Richard Bonynge. Sutherland recreates a now-legendary time in the history of opera, and she does it with humor and a refreshing lack of pretension.

From Library Journal:

Opera superstar Dame Joan Sutherland gives an exhaustive account of her performing and recording career over four decades. From her early years in Australia and with the Covent Garden company in London, to her daunting schedule at most of the major opera houses of the world, we read endlessly of where, when, and with whom she sang which roles. We're shown a sensible woman and a hard-working artist, with a healthy ego tempered by a sense of humor that is often self-deprecating. She quotes extensively from positive reviews of her performances, but she is frustratingly vague about her training and vocal technique. There are few backstage stories about the many famous singers, directors, and conductors with whom she worked and little insight into her professional or personal relationship with husband Richard Bonynge. There is remarkably little controversy of any type, and she fails to answer any of the critics who have faulted her diction and her acting over the years. Her many fans will welcome this book, but for a more revealing look, try Quaintance Eaton's Sutherland and Bonynge: An Intimate Biography (Dodd, 1987. o.p.).?Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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