Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (born November 7, 1926) is an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution in the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire in the late 1950s and 1960s. One of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by La Fenice audience in 1960 after an Alcina performance. She possessed a voice of great beauty and considerable power, combining extraordinary agility, flawless intonation, a phenomenal trill and amazing upper register. Luciano Pavarotti once described Dame Joan as the Voice of the Century while Montserrat Caballé once described her voice as heaven.