Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa Template:Post-nominals (pronounced /?k?ri t? ?k??n?w?/; born 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United Kingdom and the United States she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array of works in multiple languages from the 17th to the 20th centuries. She is particularly associated with the works of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Handel and Puccini.Her voice has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Music critics have consistently praised the freshness and warmth of her voice. 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 she now only rarely sings in operas, Te Kanawa still frequently performs in concert and recital, while giving masterclasses and supporting young opera singers in launching their careers.
I am a quiet, conservative person who was born to sing.
2
The aria has to be in my blood.
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Fact
1
She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 for her services to music.
2
She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to music in 1973.
3
She was awarded the Order of New Zealand in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honors List for her services to music.
4
She was awarded an honorary A.C. (Companion of the Order of Australia) on January 26, 1990 for her services to Opera and the performing arts.
5
In February 2001, sang her first performances of Samuel Barber's "Vanessa," at the Monte Carlo Opera House, in the principality of Monaco.
6
To date, has never sung a full length Puccini opera at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City.
7
Her performances of the opera arias, "O Mio Babbino Caro," and "Ch'il bel sogno di Doretta," by composer Giacomo Puccini, were featured in the film "A Room With A View." (1986)
8
In March 1998, at London's Royal Albert Hall, sang the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new song, "The Heart is Slow to Learn," which was intended to appear in the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
9
In January 1998, sang the Metropolitan Opera premiere performances of Richard Strauss' final opera _Capriccio_, at the Met Opera, New York City.
10
Owns a holiday house at Taupo on the shores of Lake Taupo, New Zealand.
11
Wrote a children's book of Maori folktales.
12
Is half-Irish, half-Maori.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Downton Abbey
2013
TV Series
Dame Nellie Melba
The Metropolitan Opera Presents
1982-1995
TV Series
Amelia Grimaldi / Arabella / Rosalinde / ...
Capriccio
1993
TV Movie
The Countess
Great Performances
1993
TV Series
Alcina
Otello
1992
TV Movie
Desdemona
Simon Boccanegra
1991
TV Movie
Amelia
Meeting Venus
1991
Elisabeth (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Der Rosenkavalier
1985
TV Movie
The Marschallin
Die Fledermaus
1984
TV Movie
Rosalinde
Manon Lescaut
1983
TV Movie
Manon Lescaut
Otello
1982
TV Movie
Desdemona
Tosca
1982
TV Movie
Tosca
La Bohème
1980
TV Movie
Mimì
Don Giovanni
1979
Donna Elvira
Le nozze di Figaro
1975
La Contessa di Almaviva
The Marriage of Figaro
1974
TV Movie
Countess Almaviva, Formery Dr. Bartolo's ward, Rosina
Runaway
1964
Isobel Wharewera
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Downton Abbey
2013
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Doctors
2009
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Obaba
2005
performer: "Addio del Passato"
In My Father's Den
2004
performer: "Chants d'Auvergne - Series 1: Bailero"
Great Performances
1998
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Peter's Friends
1992
performer: "Madame Butterfly - Un bel di"
Meeting Venus
1991
performer: "Tannhäuser" extraits, "Du bis wie eine Blume"
A Room with a View
1985
performer: "O mio babbino caro", "Chi il bel sogno di doretta"
The Year of Living Dangerously
1982
performer: "Beim Schlafengehen"
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter
2011
TV Movie
Herself - Singer
BBC Proms
2010
TV Series
Herself
The South Bank Show Revisited
2010
TV Series documentary
Herself
The One Show
2010
TV Series
Herself
Imagine
2006-2009
TV Series documentary
Herself - Soprano
The Royal Variety Performance 2007
2007
TV Movie
Herself
Airports and Overtures
2005
Documentary
Herself
Breakfast with Frost
2004
TV Series
Herself
The Jubilee Girl
2002
TV Movie
Herself / interviewee
Prom at the Palace
2002
TV Special documentary
Herself
Maestro or Mephisto: The Real Georg Solti
2002
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Kiri Maori
2000
TV Special
Soprano (as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa)
The Kindness of Strangers
1998
Herself
Great Performances
1991-1998
TV Series
Herself - Performer / Herself (soprano)
A Golfer's Travels with Peter Alliss
1997
TV Series documentary
Herself
The Metropolitan Opera Presents
1996
TV Series
Herself
Christmas with Kiri Te Kanawa: Carols from Coventry Cathedral
1995
TV Movie
Herself
Kiri Te Kanawa: Her Greatest Hits
1994
TV Movie
Herself
Gala Tribute to Tchaikovsky
1993
TV Special
Soprano
Together... Kiri and Andre on Broadway
1992
TV Movie
Herself
Clive James on 1991
1991
TV Movie
Herself
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa: My World of Opera
1991
TV Movie documentary
Herself - as hostess / Marschallin / Desdemona / ...