O mio babbino caro,
mi piace è bello, bello;
vo'andare in Porta Rossa
a comperar l'anello!
Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!
e se l'amassi indarno,
andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
ma per buttarmi in Arno!
Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Kiri Te Kanawa was born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron in Gisborne, March 6, 1944, on New Zealand's North Island. She has both Maori and European ancestry, but little is known about her birth parents as she was adopted as an infant by an Irish mother and a Maori father. In her teens and early 20's, Te Kanawa was a pop star and popular entertainer at clubs in New Zealand.
She was educated at Saint Mary's College Auckland and formally trained in operatic singing by Dame Sister Mary Leo, RSM. She began her singing career as a mezzo-soprano, but later developed into a soprano. Her voice is that of a versatile full lyric soprano supported by a technique which has allowed Te Kanawa to sing a variety of music. Her recording of the "Nuns' Chorus" from the Strauss operetta Casanova was New Zealand's first gold record.
Kiri married Desmond Park, whom she met on a blind date in Auckland in August 1967 and married six months later. The couple adopted two children, Antonia (1976) and Thomas (1979), named after Kiri's adoptive father. The couple divorced in the late 1990s
In 1965 she won the Mobil Song Quest with her performance of Puccini's "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca. In 1963, she had placed second to Dame Malvina Major in the same competition.
As the winner, she received a grant to study in London. In 1966, she then won the prestigious Australian Melbourne Sun-Aria contest, which Major had also won the previous year. Both students had been taught by Dame Sister Mary Leo.
In 1966, without an audition, she enrolled at the London Opera Centre to study under James Robertson, who is said to have stated that Te Kanawa did not have any singing technique when she arrived at the school but did have a gift for captivating audiences.
She first appeared on stage as the "Second Lady" in Die Zauberflöte, as well as in performances of Dido and Aeneas in December 1968 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. In 1969, she sang "Elena" in Gioacchino Rossini's La donna del lago at the Camden Festival. Praise for her "Idamante" in Mozart's Idomeneo led to an offer of a three-year contract as junior principal at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden where she made her debut as 'Xenia' in Boris Godunov and a 'Flower Maiden' in Parsifal in 1970, and was also heard as the "Voice from Heaven", an off-stage role, in Verdi's Don Carlo. In 1969, she was offered the role of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro after an audition in which the conductor, Colin Davis said "I couldn't believe my ears. I've taken thousands of auditions, but it was such a fantastically beautiful voice."[5] Under director John Copley Te Kanawa was carefully groomed for the role for a December 1971 opening.
Meanwhile, word of her success had reached John Crosby at the Santa Fe Opera, a summer opera festival in the U.S. state of New Mexico then about to begin its fifteenth season. He cast her in the role of the Countess in Figaro, which opened on 30 July 1971. The performance also featured Frederica von Stade as Cherubino.
On 1 December 1971 at Covent Garden, Kiri Te Kanawa repeated her Santa Fe performance and created an international sensation as the Countess: "with "Porgi amor" Kiri knocked the place flat." It was followed by performances as the Countess at the San Francisco Opera in autumn 1972, while her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1974 as Desdemona in Otello took place on short notice, replacing an ill Teresa Stratas at the last minute.
In subsequent years, she performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, San Francisco Opera, Munich and Cologne, adding the Mozart roles of Donna Elvira, Pamina, and Fiordiligi, in addition to Italian roles such as Mimi in La Bohème. She played Donna Elvira in Joseph Losey's 1979 film adaptation of Don Giovanni.
Te Kanawa has a particular affinity for the heroines of Richard Strauss. Her first appearance in the title role in Arabella was at the Houston Grand Opera in 1977, followed by the roles of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and the Countess in Capriccio. Many performances were given under the baton of Georg Solti and it was with him that she made her first recording of Figaro.
Te Kanawa retired from the opera stage after her performances in Samuel Barber's Vanessa with the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera in November/December 2004, but she still performs in concert halls.
Kiri Te Kanawa was created a Dame Commander of The Order of the British Empire in 1982, invested as an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1990 and awarded the Order of New Zealand in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours List. She has also received honorary degrees from the following universities in the UK: Cambridge, Dundee, Durham, Nottingham, Oxford, Sunderland, Warwick as well as these universities worldwide: Chicago, Auckland and Waikato as well as being honorary fellow of Somerville College, Oxford and Wolfson College, Cambridge. She is also patron of Ringmer Community College, a school in the South-East of England situated not far from Glyndebourne. On 12 June 2008 she received the Edison Classical Music Award during the Edison Classical Music Gala (formerly: 'Grand Gala du Disque') in the Ridderzaal in The Hague.
In a 2003 interview with the Melbourne-based Herald Sun she was critical of the high rate of welfare dependence among the Maori people, angering some of her compatriots.
Te Kanawa was sued for breach of contract by Leading Edge in 2007 after canceling a concert with Australian singer John Farnham after learning that his fans sometimes threw their underwear on stage, which he would then proudly display. She won the suit, in part because no binding contract was made, but over $100,000 court costs were awarded against the Mittane holding company which employs and manages Te Kanawa.
Kiri founded the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation with the vision "that talented young New Zealand singers and musicians with complete dedication to their art may receive judicious and thoughtful mentoring and support to assist them in realising their dreams."
The Foundation manages a trust fund to provide financial and career scholarships to young New Zealand singers and musicians.
I'm so proud to be connected with a Great Artist and a Very Great Woman as You! I hope one day to make music together...I'm a dreamer!! A very Merry Christmas Mrs Kiri, Musically yours, Luisella
MY DEAR & LOVELY FRIEND KIRI TE KANAWA: LIKE SAYS THIS SONG "HAPINESS and MISFORTUNE": ONLY IS HAPPY WHO KNOWS TO LOVE! WITH ALL MY GENUINE LOVE OF THE HEART & SOUL! GUILHERME DE ABREU CORREIA <b>imikimi</b> - sharing creativity
I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THE BEST FOR NEW YEAR 2010 I WISH YOU HAVE ALL THE SUCCESS THAT YOU DESERVE GOD BLESS YOU XX & OO YOUR FRIEND VERONICA KAMURA LEFRANC
Thank you so much!! Ur blessed with a great voice!! Sono veramente honorato!! Grazie! La mejor de las suertes.. Salud, paz y Felicidad.. Carlos David..
"urie et urie."
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