Australian soprano dame Joan Sutherland died last Sunday after what her family said was a long illness. Sutherland died at her home near Geneva, She was 83.

The late tenor Pavarotti proclaimed Sutherland's "the voice of the century and called her "the greatest coloratura soprano of all time" in her farewell gala recital at London's Covent Garden on December 31, 1990.

In The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland: A Prima Donna's Progress, Joan Sutherland said she always had a voice, intimating that she was able to sing at the tender age of three by imitating her mother, Muriel Alston Sutherland.

"I was able from the age of 3 to imitate her scales and exercises," Sutherland wrote in her 1997 autobiography.

"As she was a mezzo-soprano, I worked very much in the middle area of my voice, learning the scales and arpeggios and even the dreaded trill without thinking about it. The birds could trill, so why not I?"

"I even picked up her songs and arias and sang them by ear, later singing duets with her - Manrico to her Azucena. I always had a voice."

Joan Sutherland is survived by her husband Bonynge, son Adam, daughter-in-law Helen, and two grandchildren. In a statement the family said Sutherland had requested a very small and private funeral.

For a biography of Joan Sutherland and her career, visit the Wikipedia entry for her. Fans can also watch clips of Joan Sutherland's performance available in YouTube, such as her rendition of Bellini's "I Puritani."

The portrait photograph of Dame Joan Sutherland taken by Allan Warren in this article is licensed under Wikimedia Commons.