Kiri Te Kanawa at the BBC

Ladies and gentlemen, Kiri Te Kanawa.

APPLAUSE

But, please, call me Kiri.

# I feel pretty

# Oh, so pretty

# I feel pretty and witty and bright

# And I pity

# Any girl who isn't me tonight... #

Good singer, that girl.

# Let the bright seraphim in burning row... #

I think that was a fairly nerve-racking one.

I wasn't getting married, that was the best thing.

Arthur Kennedy from Burton on Trent expresses what so many of you feel.

She's one of the greatest sopranos of modern times,

it's live in the studio, Kiri Te Kanawa.

# There's a dream I feel

# So rare, so real

# All the world in union... #

I love to see all that old footage.

If I look back, what you have is snippets of my life, I suppose.

SHE SINGS: Ach, Ich Fuhl's by Mozart

My first impressions of coming down the East End was the people were

always talking, they obviously all knew each other and they were

very friendly and they always asked how I was, I didn't know them.

And so I was so shy, I wondered why they would talk to

me and I would go and walk along the markets,

with lots of stalls and things,

there was the fruit and the daily produce.

I always remember the ladies with the beehive hairdos,

with their shopping bags full of potatoes and things.

And the gentlemen would call out, "Hello, darling, how are you?"

Things like that. It was great fun.

Well, everyone knows this is

the Troxy in the East End on Commercial Road

but I only knew it as the London Opera Centre and it is

the reason why I came to England.

This building played a very,

very important part in the beginning of my life as an opera singer.

In fear and trembling I came through those doors in 1966.

I was a terrified little bunny rabbit and I wanted to go back home

for Christmas because I was so lonely.

Well, it's about 20 years since I've been to this place -

the old Troxy -

and I can't imagine what it's going to look like.

My gosh.

It's actually more beautiful than I remember because it's

all beautifully restored.

Down here is where we used to rehearse The Marriage Of Figaro.

This was the first big opportunity I had to do a major, major role.

I suppose it was actually the only role that I knew,

so I was rather stuck with the Countess in The Marriage Of Figaro

and after that I had to start learning all sorts of other

roles and so it was the sort of real bouncing board for

me to start into an international career.

It's always a pleasure to present a new and exciting talent on my

show and tonight we have a young soprano from

a Covent Garden opera company, for whom I predict a great future.

Here to sing Puccini's lovely aria, Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta,

is the beautiful Kiri Te Kanawa.

APPLAUSE

I started singing when I was back in New Zealand at a very young age.

My mother encouraged me,

I was taught by a nun and I went in for many competitions and

I ended up leaving New Zealand when I was 21 to study, I thought,

correctly and properly in England.

MUSIC: Pokarekare Ana

A natural laughing girl, singing the folk song of her people and happy

out of doors.

Yet she is one of the most famous

New Zealanders in the country's history.

Kiri, we know that you're from New Zealand and we know you're of

Maori descent,

but will you clear up for us what perhaps we don't know about

your origins?

Well, when I was very, very young, about five weeks old, I was,

according to my mother, brought to her doorstep and

a darling lady said, "Would you like a little baby?"

And she'd found out from the authorities that...

that my mother was looking to adopt a baby.

She said, "No, no, I don't want a baby,

"no, that's not right," sort of thing. "I want a little boy."

And so the lady went away and then when she came back again,

which was three months later,

and the same baby but slightly grown up, it seemed, a few more

weeks older, my mother said, "Well, it must be meant to be ours," so

she sort of went through the motions and she said, "Yes, I'll take it."

I had so much love from my parents.

They gave me everything they could possibly give me.

See, I'm an open-air girl, I'm not really a city girl,

I was brought up in the country. Spent my time on farms and things.

I just love animals. I just love sort of nature itself.

I love to get back to reality quite often. It's nice.

# Love unspoken

# Faith unbroken

# All life through

# Music playing, hear them saying

# Love me true

# Now the echo answers

# Surely you can see

# All the world's in love with love

# And you love me

# I hear the music play

# It carries me away

# All sorrow will have flown

# When you are mine and mine alone

# So that music seems to say

# I'm still not saying anything

# It's wanting you to sing

# I love you so... #

Placido was the most wonderful, wonderful colleague.

I think, of all the tenors that I've worked with,

I think he was the most agreeable. He had a beautiful voice.

You know, you were always sort of amazed by this gorgeous voice

coming out. But he was lovely.

Great, great friend and we sang together many, many, many times.

# Now the echo answers

# Surely you can see

# All the world's in love with love

# And you love me. #

So you sing with Domingo, so what? You know, he sings with me.

Well, here we are at Wentworth in Surrey, one of the world's

most famous golf courses, scene of many a classic encounter in

its time and here we have another one for you just at this moment.

Well, not bad for a beginner.

And that's a sweet one, right up the middle of the fairway.

I think he was better at football than golf.

# Rejoice, rejoice

# Rejoice greatly

# Rej-oi-oi-oi-ce

# Greatly

# Oh, daughter of Zion

# Shout, oh, daughter of Jerusalem

# Behold, thy king cometh unto thee

# Rejoice

# Rejoice

# And shout, shout, shout, shout

# Rej-oi-oi-oi-ce

# Greatly

# Rejoice greatly Oh, daughter of Zion

# Shout

# Oh, daughter of Jerusalem

# Behold, thy king cometh unto thee

# Behold, thy king

# Cometh unto thee... #

His singing was wonderful but his conducting was a little

bit... You always thought, "Hmm, come on, Placido, get on with it."

Because he was conducting like a singer.

And you couldn't always figure it out sometimes.

One thing - I don't know all that much about opera,

but learning about it is that opera singers tend to get better

and better and better as they get older

and people say that you've already got marvellous technique,

you've got a very beautiful voice,

what else is there left for you to do?

What are you striving for to make yourself closer to perfection?

All I'm trying to do is do the best I can with the music that

is given me

and the music that I choose, which is Mozart and Strauss, basically.

I touch on Verdi and I touch on Puccini but I don't ever

think that I will be one of those singers,

I would like very much to specialise in Mozart and Strauss.

You wouldn't ever do Wagner, for example?

I don't think so, I don't think my voice would stand it.

-Why not? What would happen?

-I think it would all snap.

-Gosh, how painful.

-My voice happens to be a very delicate one.

It's very highly tuned.

As my singing teacher says, most singers can get up and just

sing but it can go croaky on me if I'm learning.

As it did about two weeks ago, I was learning and, oh, it just went,

"Eurgh," and I thought, "How dare it?! Not now!

"When I need you, don't let me down now."

You talk to your voice, do you? As if it was a separate individual.

Yes, it's a bit like playing golf. You have good days and bad days.

I don't think it's at all like playing golf, is it?

-It's exactly like playing golf, really.

-Really?

-Yes.

If you don't do all the right things, it all goes sour on you.

# Let the bright seraphim in burning row

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow

# Let the bright seraphim

# In burning row

# In burn-ing-ing-ing row

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets

# Blow-ow-ow

# Their lou-ou-oud

# Lou-ou-oud

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow

# Let the bright seraphim in burning row

# In burning

# Burning row

# Their loud

# Uplifted

# Angel trumpets blow

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow

# Their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow... #

I think that was a fairly nerve-racking one, yes,

because there was so much involved.

I wasn't getting married, that was the best thing.

I only had to do it once and I had to do it exactly at

a certain time, it was only going to last five or six minutes and

as long as I got through that one, that's all I cared about.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kiri Te Kanawa.

APPLAUSE

But, please, call me Kiri.

I must say, it was a shock when suddenly my High Commissioner

came to me and said, "Prince Charles would like to make you a dame."

And I said, "What? You're joking!"

And, of course, I remember it being on the news, they said,

"She's not even in sort of International Who's Who,"

and I accepted because I was very thrilled to do it.

# There's a place for us

# Somewhere, a place for us

# Peace and quiet and open air

# Wait for us

# Somewhere

# There's a time for us

# Somewhere, a time for us

# Time together with time to spare

# Time to learn

# Time to care

# Somewhere

# Somewhere

# We'll find a new way of living

# We'll find a way of forgiving

# Somewhere... #

I love to see all that old footage.

Some of the performances I did on television,

hopefully they worked, you know?

And it was a progression into the next part of my career which

developed and developed and developed but what you have

at the moment is snippets of my life, I suppose.

APPLAUSE

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Mi-i-i-aow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Mi-i-i-i-aow

# Mi-i-aow

# Miaow

# Mi-i-i-aow

# Miaow

-# Miaow

-Miaow

# Mi-a-a-a-ow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

-# Mi-i-i-aow

-Mia-a-a-ow... #

SHE WHINES

FOOT STOMPS Ow!

# Miaow, miaow, miaow

# Mia-a-a-ow

# Miaow, miaow, miaow

# Miaow-ow-ow-ow-ow

# Miaow

# Ow... #

KIRI WHINES

NORMA PURRS

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Mi-i-i-i-aow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

# Miaow

-# Mi-ao-ao-ao-ow

-Mi-i-i-i-i-aow

# Mi-i-i-aow. #

I always found that if I wasn't challenged, I'd be a bit lazy.

I didn't want to be lazy in any of it because I know that being

lazy, you become complacent and then the music sort of sags away

and then you just get lazy within it and you don't have that drive.

# Burnt out ends of smoky days

# The stale cold smell of morning

# The street lamp dies

# Another night is over

# And all the day is dawning

# Touch me

# It's so easy to leave me

# All alone with the memory

# Of my days in the sun

# If you touch me

# You'll understand what happiness is

# Look, a new day

# Has begun... #

Are you ever frightened by the fact that you have achieved

so much success at such a relatively young age?

-Well, yes. You put it... Why didn't

-I

-say that? I'm terrified.

It's too soon, I'm too young.

Someone said to me just lately, it was really, really, sweet.

"You know, Kiri, if you put your head above the horizon,

"someone's going to shoot it down."

The wear and tear with the operatic music is quite severe.

And so I decided to do concerts to try and keep my voice in good shape.

APPLAUSE

-Well...

-Thank you for asking me.

-That was nice and short, anyway.

What was that?

Well, it was a funny little song and it really means, on the short

side of it, "Unlucky is the man who doesn't have

"a wife and equally unlucky is the man who does have a wife."

Shrewd thinking by the Auvergne Noir, I would have thought.

I now have the honour to present our all-star cast,

with mighty soprani, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Where are you? Excellent, wrong lady.

There she is!

I mean, with the very first rehearsal we did, they said,

"He won't start the rehearsal, he won't start." And I said, "Why not?"

They said, "Because he's nervous."

# I feel pretty

# Oh, so pretty

# I feel pretty and witty and bright

# And I pity any girl who isn't me tonight

# I feel charming

# Oh, so charming

# It's alarming how charming I feel

# And so pretty

# That I hardly can believe I'm real

# See the pretty girl in the mirror there?

# Who can that attractive girl be?

# Such a pretty face Such a pretty dress

# Such a pretty smile

# Such a pretty me

# I feel stunning

# And entrancing

# Feel like running and dancing for joy

# For I'm loved

# By a pretty, wonderful boy... #

He is a man of many emotions. You know, ups and downs, all over.

And to see that coming from a conductor when conductors are

very serious people.

You see a tired, ageing maestro,

where yesterday you saw...

a tired ageing maestro, but less tired and less ageing.

But to see this sort of animal working is, is quite amazing.

You can see his moods from time to time,

you see his frustrations, his happiness, his glee, his...

his wanting to perform to people.

That's the thing that makes the man interesting.

You're constantly trying to read him.

But really, he's on another planet,

he's on a planet that no-one can touch.

The man is just brilliant.

# I love him

# We're one

# There's nothing to be done

# Not a thing I can do

# But hold him

# Hold him forever

# Be with him now

# Tomorrow

# And all

# Of my life... #

# When love comes

# So strong

# There is no right or wrong

# Your love is

# Your life. #

'He is very lovely, the only thing is, I just had to say to him,'

"Excuse me, Maestro," but I said, "You have got to stop smoking.

"I cannot breathe any more."

And he smoked through the whole of the rehearsals. It was horrible.

I didn't shout or anything, I just said,

"You have got to stop smoking, I can't do this any more."

'I've known Roger for very many, many years, and he, I think,

'is a great accompanist, a great colleague, and great support.'

Fun to be on tour with because you need to have someone to talk to

as well, when you're a bit lonely in hotel rooms and things.

APPLAUSE

Henri Duparc's L'Invitation au Voyage,

sung by Kiri Te Kanawa, accompanied by Roger Vignoles.

You haven't always been a classical singer, you can't start as one,

you must've, as a kid, that's more or less as you sang.

That's, yes, that's what I did naturally.

I was just given the opportunity to sing classical music only,

and became an opera singer and classical singer and still am.

I didn't change.

I was just given an opportunity to have a little diversion.

The rain in Spain

stays mainly in the plain.

I think she's got it.

I think she's got it!

# The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain... #

By George, she's got it!

My God, she's got it!

Arthur Kennedy from Burton on Trent expresses what so many of you feel.

Arthur sums up the whole programme by exclaiming...

I'll see you next week and leave you in the company of Kiri.

And by the way, male viewers, some more letters, please! Goodnight.

# I'll never know what made it so exciting

# Why all at once

# My heart took flight

# I only know when he

# Began to dance with me

# I could have danced, danced, danced

# All night! #

APPLAUSE

From a very early age, I knew somehow I was devoted to music.

And music had to be my life.

And I was never, ever allowed to desert it.

And if I deserted, I felt that if I deserted music,

then I had lost my reason for living, almost.

APPLAUSE

Kiri Te Kanawa has worked with many of the world's great accompanists,

the professionals who specialise in playing for singers.

Now she's working with a conductor,

with whom she's made many opera recordings

but not before done "leader".

I must say it is the highlight of my career, I truly say that.

It's a totally different experience because an accompanist...

is sort of, supports you, but I actually feel as though

Sir George has got, he's actually got more control over all of that.

Control of the fingers, almost...

He almost sings it for me, and it's never quite good enough, is it?

-Rubbish!

-No, it's true!

APPLAUSE

This is the land of my people.

The Ngati Maniapoto.

Lying in the heart of the North Island,

it forms part of the King Country province.

During the wars of the 1860s,

thousands of Maori lives were lost trying to protect this land.

To we Maori people,

without land, there is no soul.

No "Mana".

Here, in the Maniapoto, are my ancestors.

In Gisborne, I wanted to show my children the old family home

where I was brought up.

And all that's left now is this parking lot.

Whenever I could, I'd escape to the beach at the bottom of our road

and run round to the wharf for mussels

or go swimming with my friends.

But I never saw this.

Racehorses training in the surf.

To return to this beach after 20 years

of not visiting it...

is rather...

sad, but also very rewarding, because

my life has changed quite considerably over the last 20 years.

And I find to come back here...

It hasn't changed, and it's rather wonderful

that throughout our life, can we go back somewhere and say,

"You haven't changed at all."

APPLAUSE

-How are the auditions going?

-Very good.

Just you sit tight there. Next, please.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# O mio babbino caro

# Mi piace

# Afa bello, bello

# Vo'andere in Porta Rossa

# A comperar l'anello

# Si, si, 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 pieta, pieta

# Babbo pieta

# Pieta. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Way, way back, you had to get an audition for the BBC,

to perform on the BBC.

And more often than not, some of the greatest singers

were turned down by the BBC.

But if you got a job and it included a broadcast,

basically, that was your audition.

Very, very, very nice, absolutely lovely.

Not quite Tina Turner, but...

but coming along nicely.

# Part of myself grows inside... #

Yo, yo.

It's a big thrill, seeing these little black dots

turn into actual beautiful notes,

and just seeing how she controls her voice, you know.

She doesn't vibrate every single note like some singers.

# Who-o-o-o-o-a! #

She'll go... # Whooooo-o-o-oa... #

Just put a little vibrato on the end, you go, "Oh, she's good."

She's good.

It was a very nice time, very exciting time.

Working with someone as great as Paul McCartney,

and all the other singers,

and a new piece, a new composition, which is, quite often,

you don't get a composition which is so musical.

# The world you're coming into

# Is no easy place to enter

# Every day is haunted

# By the echoes of the past

# Funny thoughts

# And wild, wild dreams

# Will find their way

# Into your mind

# The clouds that hang above us

# May be full of rain and thunder

# But in time

# They slide away

# To find the sun still there

# Lazy days

# And wild, wild flowers

# Will bring some joy

# Into your heart

# And I will always love you

# I'll welcome you into this world

-BOTH:

-# You're mine and I will love you. #

APPLAUSE

It was something I always wanted to do, I don't know why.

It was stupid, I suppose, but I always found it was something that

not everybody could do.

And I think I got there.

She's one of the greatest sopranos of modern times,

it's live in the studio, Kiri Te Kanawa.

# There's a dream I feel

# So rare, so real

# All the world in union

# The world as one

# Gathering together

# One mind, one heart

# Every creed, every colour

# Once joined, never apart

# Searching for the best in me

# I will find what I can be

# If I win, lose, or draw

# There's a winner in us all

# It's the world in union

# The world as one

# As we climb to reach our destiny

# A new age has begun

# We face high mountains

# Must cross rough seas

# We must take our place in history

# And live with dignity

# Just to be the best I can

# Sets the goal for every man

# If I win, lose, or draw

# It's a victory for all

# It's the world in union

# The world as one

# As we climb to reach our destiny

# A new age has begun... #

-APPLAUSE

-There is Dame Kiri.

And a joyful reception from the Promenaders.

APPLAUSE

'Well, I just think it's an amazing coming together of the world,

'the world watches it.'

It just encourages young people to enjoy classical music,

and that's our next audience, which is so important, you know.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# When Britain first at heaven's command

# Aro-o-o-ose from out the a-a-azure main

# Arose, arose from the azure main

# This was the charter

# The charter of the land

# And guardian a-a-a-ngels

# Sang this strain

-ALL:

-# Rule Britannia

# Britannia rules the waves

# Britons never, never, never shall be slaves

# Rule Britannia

# Britannia rules the waves

# Britons never, never, never shall be slaves

# Still more majestic shalt thou rise

# More dre-e-e-eadful from each fo-o-o-oreign stroke

# More dreadful, dreadful from each foreign stroke

# Blest isle, matchless

# With matchless beauty crowned

# And manly he-e-e-earts to guard the fair!

# Rule Britannia

# Britannia rules the waves

# Britons never, never, never shall be slaves

# Rule Britannia

# Britannia rules the waves

# Britons never, never, never

# Shall be slaves! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'You do have those wonderful performances with fabulous colleagues'

and making great music,

and I think that's what it's all about. It's all about

the joy of being able to sing and perform

at the highest possible level.

And I must say that it is for the sheer love of music

that I say to you,

if you want to be an opera singer and you have these opportunities,

then you have to go for it.

# Summertime

# And the living

# Is easy

# Fish are jumping

# And the cotton is high

# Oh, your daddy's rich

# And your mommy's good looking

# So hush, little baby

# Don't you cry

# One of these mornings

# You're gonna rise up singing

# And you'll spread your wings

# And you'll take to the sky

# But till that morning

# There's nothing can harm you

# With Daddy and Mommy

# Standing by

# By

# Aye-e-e-e-e aye

# Aye... #

APPLAUSE