La Stupenda

1991, 88 Minutes

Dame Joan Sutherland, and husband Richard Bonynge, take a nostalgic look back at the life and the staggeringly successful career of this internationally celebrated opera singer. Every moment is a highlight! A delight for opera lovers everywhere.

At the Sydney Opera House on 2nd October 1990 Dame Joan Sutherland bade farewell to opera in an emotional performance as Marguerite de Valois in Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots. The occasion marked the close of a distinguished singing career spanning 42 years and embracing 50 different roles.

Dubbed ‘La Stupenda’ thirty years ago by an Italian critic, Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband Richard Bonynge talk at length about her distinguished singing career and their life together in opera. The film combines documentary, archival material and performance to present a unique retrospective of those years. Affectionate contributions from some of their close friends and colleagues, including Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and fellow Australian Sir Sidney Nolan, add to a celebration of Dame Joan’s singular talent.

A National Interest Program. A Landseer Production for RM Associates and Film Australia in association with Omnibus - BBC Television, The Decca Record Company, Radio Telefis Eireann and RTP. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.