Dame Joan Sutherland Exhibition at Royal Opera House

Thursday 10 November 2011

The Royal Opera House Collections has just launched a new exhibition of rarely-seen photographs and costumes which document the career of legendary soprano and RCM alumna Dame Joan Sutherland.

Joan Sutherland moved over from Australia to study at the RCM under Clive Carey in 1951, and began her professional career in 1952 as a member of the Covent Garden Opera Company. She fostered close ties with the Royal Opera House, where she sang many major roles including title roles in Donizetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor and Bellini’s Norma. She became one of the world's most lauded opera stars, and Luciano Pavarotti, with whom she often performed, described her as "the greatest voice of the 20th century".

The exhibition is open to the public as a tour from now until February 2012. It will include costumes for Donizetti’s Anna Bolena and Lucrezia Borgia as well as photographs of all of Dame Joan’s roles at the Royal Opera House, both onstage and in rehearsals. For more information about the exhibition visit the Royal Opera House website or watch this BBC video.