BBC Music
BETA
Born 06 March 1944.
Photo of Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC (born 6 March 1944, Gisborne, New Zealand) is a New Zealand soprano who had a highly successful international opera career between 1968–2004. Possessing a warm full lyric soprano voice, Te Kanawa sang a wide repertoire that encompassed works from the 17th to the 20th century in Italian, French, German, Russian, and English. She particularly excelled in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, George Frideric Handel and Giacomo Puccini.
Te Kanawa's voice has a vibrant but mellow quality that is ample in size without being overly heavy or forced. Although music critics have consistently praised the freshness and warmth of her voice, she has been at times criticised for her interpretations; with some critics feeling her performances lack vibrance, animation, and original expression. Nevertheless, the sheer beauty of Te Kanawa's voice made her one of the leading operatic sopranos internationally of the 1970s and 1980s. She found particular success in portraying princesses, noble countesses and other similar characters on stage, as her naturally dignified stage presence and physical beauty complemented these roles well.
Although only rarely singing in operas, Te Kanawa still frequently performs in concert and recital, while giving masterclasses and supporting young opera singers to launch their careers. In August 2009, the Daily Telegraph reported Te Kanawa is retiring because the discipline is exhausting. It said her last opera performance would be at the Cologne Opera in Germany in April 2010, when she plays the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. However, Te Kanawa denied this the following month when interviewed in Sydney, saying "The press might have announced it. I didn't say a thing. I don't know why they're trying to retire me. I'm not retiring."
(External) Read more at Wikipedia...
Wikipedia This entry is from (External) Wikipedia , the user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors and is licensed under the (External) GNU Free Documentation License . If you find the biography content factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can (External) edit this article at Wikipedia . Find out more about our use of this data .
Links & information come from (External) MusicBrainz . You can add or edit information about (External) Kiri Te Kanawa at musicbrainz.org . Find out more about our use of this data . The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites
Really Simple Syndication
It's hard to describe how a building can become an icon. It's just something that...Lewis Carnie
Information displayed about artists played on BBC programmes is incomplete at present. Find out more about this artist play count information .
BBC Radio 2 100%
Information displayed about artists played on BBC radio networks is incomplete at present. Find out more about this artist play count information .
BBC © MMIX
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.