STVDIO tribute to Dame Joan Sutherland

Arts channel STVDIO has moved swiftly to pay tribute to the memory of Dame Joan Sutherland with 5 hours of programming set to air tonight.

Leo Schofield has also recorded a short In Memoriam tribute which will air at 6pm, 8.45pm and 10.30pm.

5pm Notes from a Diva (49 minutes)
Dame Joan Sutherland puts six contestants from the Cardiff Singer of the World competition through their paces.

6pm Lakmé (153 minutes, in French)
Dame Joan takes the title role in this production of Lakmé, filmed in 1976 with Huguette Tourangeau, Henri Wilden and The Australian Opera chorus. Her husband, Richard Bonynge, conducts the Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra.

Lakmé is set in India in the mid-19th century, when the British ruled over the many religious sects. Nilakantha, the leader of one of these forbidden sects, is secretly bringing up his daughter Lakmé as a priestess, to be worshipped by his followers. He keeps her isolated in a temple surrounded by a bamboo stockade, declaring the temple and garden as sacred ground.

8.45pm The Best of Joan Sutherland (76 minutes)
Highlights of Dame Joan’s stage performances with Opera Australia, including many of her most internationally famous and highly acclaimed roles.