Kiri Te Kanawa - Dame Kiri And Friends - The Gala Concert

Starring: Kiri Te Kanawa, Malvina Major Dvd Release: 4th April, 2005 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 0 Encoding

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Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ONZ DBE AO, is a well-known New Zealand opera singer of Maori ancestry. In 1981, she was seen & heard around the world by an estimated 600 million people when she sang Handels Let the Bright Seraphim at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales & Lady Diana Spencer. Te Kanawa was born in Gisborne. She was adopted as an infant & little is known about her birth parents. She began her singing career as a mezzo-soprano but later developed into a soprano. In her teens & early 20s, Te Kanawa was a popular entertainer in New Zealand. Her recording of the Nuns Chorus from the Strausss operetta Casanova was New Zealands first-ever gold record. In 1965, she won a singing competition & received a grant to study in London. In 1966, she enrolled at the London Opera Centre. In 1971, Te Kanawa made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Countess Almaviva, in The Marriage of Figaro. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1974 as Desdemona.

This is a lovely DVD, with beautiful music. Its very heart-warming to see Dame Kiri with Malvina Major with whom she studied under Dame Sister Mary Leo, many years ago. The Concert on the DVD begins with the Opera Factory Ensemble signing Tarakihi & then Kiri sings the famous Porgi Amor very beautifully. Later Helen Medlyn sings Habanera with great enthusiasm. Simon ONeill has a full, strong voice & he sings The Flower Song & others. The whole concert has a lovely atmosphere, very professional but at the same time very warm & moving. Do buy it, its a wonderful success......

Dame Malvina Major DBE is one of the worlds finest sopranos. She was born at Hamilton, New Zealand into a large, musical family & had a voice & projection that cried out for discipline. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country & western pop & music from the shows. She did not receive her first classical training until 1955, from Sister Mary Magdalen at the town of Ngaruawahia which is slightly north of Hamilton. Sister Febronie continued with her voice training & Sister Liguori gave her piano tuition. As her potential blossomed, Major began travelling weekly to Ponsonby in Auckland where she received further tuition from Dame Sister Mary Leo at St Marys College Music School. Sister Mary Leo was internationally recognised as one of the great music teachers & she would later teach another famous New Zealand soprano, Kiri Te Kanawa. Major moved to England for further study at the London Opera Centre, under the guidance of renowned teacher Ruth Packer.

Editors Choice: Kiri Te Kanawa, View DVDology

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