Joan Sutherland

Wanted the updated version as I had borrowed the original from a friend. Really good, interesting read.

Provides nice detail

So delighted to see a "new" biography endorsed by my heroine (copyright 2013) that I ordered it without blinking! Surprise! It is actually the same book written by Norma Major (wife of Prime Minister John Major) in 1994: an opportunity to present the book in Kindle format with a new cover and "Look Inside" potential. (I did wonder, why the delay in publication, as our beloved Sutherland passed 10/10/10.)The book is much like a scrap book with dates, performances, people, conductors, managers, places, roles, and chronicles of a wondrous career. But I was left thirsting for a bit of yin to balance the yang: conflict, resolution, contrast, balance. Joan may not have been complex, but her husband, Richard, certainly is and without him there would have been no her, at least not as the world came to know her, for he was certainly the wind beneath her wings. The book could have dug so much deeper.And there are the records (or absence thereof): my first passion with the voice of Joan Sutherland, and hence of opera, was listening to a neighbors double record album, "The Art of the Prima Donna." The making of this album, which changed my life and made the Sutherland name a "household word" (in households that opened their doors and their hearts to such beauty), is not even mentioned; although its creation helped to bring the world to her feet: for Ms Sutherland was the most recorded opera singer of the 20th century. Neither are her rare recordings of Puccini and Wagner even mentioned (the most beautiful and pure tone in such "heavy" and demanding roles.)Nevertheless, the book continues to be an exceptional effort in honor of an exceptional woman.

Good book but nothing really new.

Thank you Mrs Major for this biography. I was enthralled with it from start to finish. Please, please revise the epilogue to include Dame Joan's last years. It would be lovely to know how she spent her post retirement years. I believe I saw a picture of you with Dame Sutherland at Holland Park celebrating Maestro Bonyge's 80th birthday. This was shortly before she passed away.What has taken place I these last years since her death.I have loaded my IPhone with Sutherland.

excellent

A good read for all who love Joan Sutherland.

To much about her career, all her concerts were mentioned. Not much about her personal life dring her career and after