They called her “La Stupenda,” and on this solo album you can hear why. Once in a generation a new star explodes into the operatic firmament, and this historic debut documents the precise moment when the great Australian coloratura Joan Sutherland went supernova. Conductor Nello Santi and a characterful French orchestra accompany Sutherland in five generous extracts from bel canto operas by Donizetti and Verdi—the repertoire in which she reigned supreme. And that’s just what she does here, in the first landmark recording of her career. Yes, Sutherland’s voice is pure and sweet, and her high notes dazzle like newly cut diamonds. But there’s an electricity here, too—a raw dramatic power that demonstrates, like few other recordings, why the Sutherland legend endures.