MUSIC

‘La Stupenda’ Bids Farewell: Opera diva Joan Sutherland drew cheers and tears Monday when she sang “There’s No Place Like Home” at a London stage performance that she insisted really meant goodby. Sutherland, 64, hailed as the century’s greatest soprano, formally retired in Sydney in October. But she came back to Covent Garden Royal Opera House, the place she calls “my nursery”--where she began her international career 38 years ago--to bid farewell to British fans in a New Year’s Eve cameo in Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.” The audience, which included British Prime Minister John Major and his wife, Norma--author of a biography of the singer dubbed La Stupenda by Italian opera buffs--gave her a standing ovation.