AN exciting new digital showcase celebrates Dame Joan Sutherland and the garments that decorated her incredible career.
Grand, from the Australian Performing Arts Collection, features items donated by Opera Australia. There are 30 complete costumes, gowns, head pieces, jewellery, wigs and shoes from three decades on the world stage.
The collection captures many of Sutherland's most recognisable roles such as Violetta in La Traviata, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. It also highlights the work of leading international designers.
"You don't see costumes like this every day," said Australian Performing Arts Collection curator for dance and opera, Margot Anderson.
"Joan Sutherland understood the value of a well-made costume and worked closely with leading international designers such as Michael Stennett and Jose Varona, as well as celebrated Australian designers including Kristian Fredrikson, John Truscott and Kenneth Rowell.
"She appreciated their efforts to ensure the best outcome for the role as well her own comfort.
"Her costumes are held in the archives of world famous opera houses, such as the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and have been widely exhibited. They capture the grandeur of productions from an amazing era in opera and give a sense of Joan Sutherland's status on the world stage."
Arts Centre Melbourne and the Australian Performing Arts Collection invite the public to explore Grand here.
