"You were wonderful,'' said Maria Callas, "but you owe something to me, you know. After all, I persuaded you to sing roles like Lucia." She was speaking to a big, square-jawed Australian woman named Joan Sutherland, a former secretary who has won a sudden but solid reputation in the Bellini-Donizetti territory that Callas calls her own. Last week Soprano Sutherland, 33, was appearing at Britain's stylish Glyndebourne Festival in Bellini's I Puritani. On the lawn at intermission, as they were consuming their hamper-packed chicken-in-aspic suppers, members of the black-tied audience buzzed that Joan could...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
