First, a little introduction into my introduction to the wonderful voice of Joan Sutherland:

I first came to know Joan Sutherland through her recording of "Elisir d'amore" with Pavarotti. I remember thinking: what a beautiful, full voice. I listened again and again to the opening cavatina. I was still new to opera, but I already knew that Sutherland would be the epitome of opera for me. I continued to listen to various Sutherland recordings, but, strangely enough, they were all made in 1970s or 1980s, nothing before that. I cherished each and every one of them, and I still do. And yet... When I at last bought the legendary "Art of the Primadonna" album, I was already truly in love with the voice and was a "profesional Sutherland fan" for three years. But something has happened: the voices were not the same one! As I listened to Amina's cavatina, I was speechless: so perfect it was, and, when I compared the rendition with my favorite 1980 Sutherland recording of the opera, I realized that the former was the best (that's just my opinion). I bought other early recordings of Sutherland's voice: her first "La Sonnambula", "Acis and Galatea" etc. etc.. This was an even more beautiful voice, actually surpassing later recordings (at least, that's what happened for me). Since then I have listened to many artists, but not one of them were like Sutherland: her first recordings are so wonderful, so brilliant, so close to perfect, that she managed to overshadow her later work. Yes, the 1970s and 1980s brought us further proof of Sutherland's genius ("Lucrezia Borgia" is a good example), but Sutherland has already set the standart so high, that anything after 1962 just pales in comparison... at least, it does for me :-)...

Now, I have here for you a small sample of the young Joan Sutherland. Three baroque arias, one Italian and two English. The first except is the simple "The traveller benighted" from Arne's "Love in a village", then, as the central piece, comes "Furia di donna ingrata" from "La buona figliuola" by Piccini and finally the joyful "Light as thistledown" from Shield's "Rosina". I hope you enjoy :-)!

P.S. I fully understand that some people love the "mature" Sutherland, and in no way am I trying to offend any of them. It's just... the early recordings seem to me a marriage of good diction, a beautiful voice and, what is more importantly, interpretation :-)! There is something special there :-)...

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