Available Australia and New Zealand only, from 16 Sep 2023.
In this 1991 documentary, 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. At the Sydney Opera House on 2nd October 1990, Dame Joan 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 delight for opera lovers everywhere.

From the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. (Stream Premiere)