Dame Joan Sutherland, 'La Stupenda', dies

The Australian-born soprano, who retired 20 years ago, died at her home in Switzerland on Sunday, her family said.

She is survived by her husband Richard Bonynge and son Adam.

Dame Joan sang alongside Luciano Pavarotti in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment in 1966, was acclaimed for the wide range of roles she took on during a career spanning four decades.

Called "La Stupenda" by her Italian fans for her amazing vocal quality, Dame Joan was particularly praised for her singing of operas by Handel but shot to international fame in 1959 when she assumed the title role in The Royal Opera's staging of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

at Covent Garden – the role with which she came to be most often associated.

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who joined Marilyn Horne in Dame Joan's farewell gala recital at Covent Garden on December 31, 1990, called her "the greatest coloratura soprano of all time".The term refers to a soprano with a high range and the vocal agility to sing brilliant trills and rapid passages.

Her purity of tone and brilliant vocal display made her pre-eminent in the revival of Italian bel canto operas, taking on the mantle of Maria Callas.