The great Australian diva first came to Seattle in 1966 because of a lucky connection: the Seattle mezzo-soprano Dori Cole, who was touring the opera houses “Down Under” with Sutherland and her conductor husband Richard Bonynge.

In his unpublished memoirs, Glynn Ross recalls: “Knowing that he [Bonynge] and Joan were trying to enlarge their repertoire, I offered them the possibility of doing “Lakmé” in Seattle. And since there was only one not-so-good recording by Mado Robin, they might want to record it after the production in Seattle.”

The Lakmé was an unequivocal triumph for Sutherland, who would later return to Seattle for Donna Anna, the Hoffmann heroines, and Le roi de Lahore. “Her voice is like a pliant golden cord, full and rich and beautiful through her extraordinary range,” wrote The Seattle Times of her Lakmé. Sutherland and Bonynge recorded the opera later that year in Monte Carlo, for Decca.

Here, from the Seattle performance, Sutherland sings the famous Flower Duet (“Sous le dôme épais”) with Huguette Tourangeau, the Canadian mezzo who was her frequent partner.