Joan Sutherland on Amelita Galli-Curci

A rare interview from the late 1960s with Australian soprano, Joan Sutherland, about one of her main vocal and musical inspirations - the Italian soprano, Amelita Galli-Curci. While living in Southern California, Galli-Curci kept up her interest in opera by coaching would-be singers and by receiving visitors from her days as a prima donna. Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge visited Galli-Curci in Rancho Santa Fe in 1961. After Sutherland told her hostess how the critics had 'roasted' her for including the popular "Serenata" by Tosti on her program, Galli-Curci responded, "Never worry about critics. You just put on blinders like the 'orse and go straight ahead to your goal. And zen when you get there, take zem off." Sutherland later called her hostess "the most enchanting lady I ever met in my life, so full of vitality and personality - and so warm. So often one's idol does not meet one's expectations when the time comes. But we can in all honesty say Lita surpassed our dreams."