Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (born November 7, 1926) is an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the bel canto revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Sutherland is known for her soprano voice of Wagnerian proportions with its extreme flexibility, ethereal presence and instantly recognisable unique silvery timbre. She was hailed La Stupenda after an Alcina performance in La Fenice in 1960. Early life and career Joan Sutherland was born in Sydney. Her mother was a mezzo soprano who had given up her career. She learned a lot from her mother, with whom she used to sing and listen to many recordings. She attended St Catherine's School, Waverley, the oldest Anglican girls' school in Sydney. When Sutherland was 18, she started to study singing seriously. She made her debut in Australia as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, in 1952. Previously, in 1950, she had won Australia's most important competition, The Sun