Technique is the basis of every pursuit. If youre a sportsman or youre a singer or a swimmer, well that comes under sport but you have to develop a basic technique to know what youre doing at any given time.

Joan Sutherland

Joan Sutherland was one of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "supremely" pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Sutherland was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award, for Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra) in 1962.

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