Commentary

'Memories of Joan Sutherland' by Patricia Harewood

by Patricia Harewood •

July–August 2011, no. 333

Commentary

'Memories of Joan Sutherland' by Patricia Harewood

by Patricia Harewood •

July–August 2011, no. 333

My husband is proud to claim that in the 1950s, when they were both employed at Covent Garden, he was paid a larger salary than Joan Sutherland was. Fresh from Sydney, she had joined the company in 1952, and was soon appearing in small roles, including Clotilde, opposite Maria Callas’s Norma. This was followed by several years of steady progress and major roles (Agathe, Antonia, Micaela), but no great public success. My husband watched Joan’s progress from the beginning of her time and realised, as did others, that here was a great singer in the making. Then, in February 1959, Sutherland, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, made her triumphant début as Lucia di Lammermoor, and everything changed dramatically, including her fees.

Patricia Harewood

Patricia Harewood, Countess of Harewood, lives in Yorkshire and last wrote for ABR in April 2001 – reflections of an Australian expat. She grew up in Sydney and played the violin in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Her husband, Lord Harewood, worked for the Royal Opera House before serving as managing director of the English National Opera (1972–85). He too has written illuminatingly about Sutherland, especially in his memoirs, The Tongs and the Bones (1981).