Description
The story of Kiri Te Kanawa’s rise to fame from a Maori background in New Zealand to the world of international opera – now acclaimed as one of the great operatic stars, she is also known to millions for her singing at the royal wedding in 1981.
Kiri Te Kanawa is the great operatic discovery of our time. In 1971 when, as an unknown singer from New Zealand, she sang the role of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at Covent Garden, it was clear that a star of immense talent had been revealed.
This biography traces her life from early days as a Maori girl from New Zealand’s North Island, the struggles and difficulties of her operatic training when she came to Britain having abandoned a flourishing Antipodean career as a popular singer and recording artist. Then came her eventual overnight success, first at Covent Garden, then at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in Otello, and her subsequent successes in the world’s great opera houses. It also looks at her widely admired performance in Joseph Losey’s controversial film of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
The people who were instrumental in helping her are well known names – Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge, Colin Davis, Georg Solti, Peter Hall, John Tooley. The honour paid to her in being invited to sing at the marriage of Prince Charles and the Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul’s Cathedral brought her to the notice and admiration of countless television viewers throughout the world.
Kiri Te Kanawa is not only beautiful in voice and appearance; she has an irresistible vivacity and sense of humour offstage. She is married, the devoted mother of two young children and is a keen enthusiast on the golf course. This book follows the musical development of her voice but also tells the human story behind the career of an exceptional singer who has won the hearts of millions.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1982, Kiri Te Kanawa was created a Dame of the British Empire.
Hardcover, 192 pages. In good to very good preloved condition with the exception of some minor fading and wear to the dustcover.