La Traviata at Opera in the Domain

Dame Joan Sutherland sings La Traviata at Opera in the Domain (1982)

The weather was … inclement. There was mud underfoot – and very soon everywhere else. But the opportunity to hear Dame Joan Sutherland singing one of the roles that had made her world famous drew still an estimated 25,000 people to a sodden Domain.

Aged 55 at the time, “La Stupenda” was, some said, a touch too mature to convincingly play Verdi’s consumptive courtesan. But her experience paid off big time. The rain held off for Acts I and II but it smashed down for Violetta’s Act III heartbreak. Did the drenched Dame Joan miss a beat, fluff a note? She did not. What a trouper.