Te Kanawa was born in Gisborne, on New Zealand's North Island. She has both Māori and European ancestry, but little is known about her birth parents as she was adopted as an infant. She is the adopted daughter of an Irish mother and Māori father. In her teens and early 20s, 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 the celebrated Dame Sister Mary Leo, RSM, who was New Zealand's best-known opera coach. She began her singing career as a mezzo-soprano, but later developed into a soprano. 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 6 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.
Career
In 1965 she won the prestigious Mobil Song Quest, entered by all types of singers, jazz, pop and classical, with her performance of Puccini's "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca. As the winner, she received a grant to study in London.
Early years in London
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, at the end of Verdi's Don Carlo. Also, during 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." Under director John Copley, Te Kanawa was carefully groomed for the role for a December 1971 opening.
International career
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. "It was two of the newcomers who left the audience dazzled: Frederica von Stade as Cherubino and Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess. Everyone knew at once that these were brilliant finds. History has confirmed that first impression." Von Stade and Te Kanawa have continued this association even up to the present day. In 2007, they sang together at Kiri's farewell concert in Carnegie Hall.
But on 1 December 1971 at Covent Garden, Kiri Te Kanawa repeated the Santa Fe triumph and created an international sensation in the same role: "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.
UK talk show host Michael Parkinson asked her to name the person she felt was the greatest singer that ever lived. She replied: "The young Elvis Presley, without any doubt."
Honours
Kiri Te Kanawa was conferred a Dame Commander of The Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1982, invested as an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1990 and awarded the prestigious Order of New Zealand (ONZ) 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.
Controversy
Te Kanawa has always been popular among New Zealanders, but in a 2003 interview with the Melbourne-based Herald Sun she was critical of the high rate of welfare dependence among the Māori people, angering some of her compatriots.
Te Kanawa has recently been taken to court by Leading Edge for cancelling 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 this breach-of-contract lawsuit, in part because no binding contract was made, but over $100,000 in court costs were awarded against the Mittane holding company which employs and manages Te Kanawa.
Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation
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.
Love Walked In
Kiri Te Kanawa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that love said hello
Though not a word was spoken
One look, and I forgot the gloom of the past
One look and I had found my future at last
One look and I had found a world completely new
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that love said hello
Though not a word was spoken
One look and I had found a world completely new
When love walked in with you
The first two lines of the song "Love Walked In" by Kiri Te Kanawa represent a classic motif in popular music - the idea that love has the power to transform darkness and despair into light and happiness. The lyrics describe the moment when love arrives in the singer's life and "drives the shadows away," bringing a sense of joy and optimism that had been missing before. This idea is reinforced by the next line, which describes how love brings the singer's "sunniest day." With just a few simple words, the song sets up a narrative that is as old as time - the story of two people finding each other and falling in love.
The second half of the first verse offers a more poetic and mysterious take on the same idea. The singer describes feeling as though her heart "seemed to know" that love was present, even though no words were spoken between the two people. This seems to suggest that there is something almost preternatural about the experience of falling in love - that it is a force that can be felt even before it is named or acknowledged out loud.
The second verse of the song builds on these themes, describing how a single look from the object of the singer's affection was enough to banish the "gloom of the past" and provide a glimpse of a brighter future. The final lines of the song reinforce the idea that falling in love can open up a whole new world of possibilities, creating a sense of excitement and wonder that was previously unknown. Overall, "Love Walked In" is a simple but evocative song that captures the transformative power of love in a few short verses.
Line by Line Meaning
Love walked right in and drove the shadows away
Love entered my life and chased away all the negativity and darkness.
Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day
Love came unexpectedly and brought sheer happiness into my life.
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that love said hello
In an instance, my heart recognized that love had entered my life and greeted me.
Though not a word was spoken
Even though nothing was said, I could feel the presence of love.
One look, and I forgot the gloom of the past
With just one glance, all the sadness and darkness of my past faded away.
One look and I had found my future at last
In one glance, I knew that love had brought me to where I was meant to be.
One look and I had found a world completely new
With one glance, I discovered a new world filled with love and happiness.
When love walked in with you
Everything changed for the better when you brought love into my life.
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that love said hello
In an instance, my heart recognized that love had entered my life and greeted me.
Though not a word was spoken
Even though nothing was said, I could feel the presence of love.
One look and I had found a world completely new
With one glance, I discovered a new world filled with love and happiness.
When love walked in with you
Everything changed for the better when you brought love into my life.
Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GORDON CLIFFORD, HARRY BARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
merou kou
Very beautiful, thank you, with our actors of
fifty and sixte years.
Roberto Saab
Pouco vista,pouco conhecida no Brasil,talvez a maior cantora viva
stas3h
What a voice and so easy on the eyes.
DWBonny
Don’t allow yourselves to be distracted by good looks (unless, that is, you’re seriously committed to the adoration of Poodles) 🧐
Channel dedicated to Kiri Te Kanawa
Very nice, thank you
Trevor Lloyd
just can't do anything wrong can she?
Bruno Antony
I almost didn’t recognize Richard Burton at 1:33 and thought 2:38 was Leslie Nielsen, but it’s George Peppard.
Antoinette Rader
Something lovely for the ladies:))))))
Alla Axelrod
To "nuderobot" -- Sean Connery is on this list.
grafter
Why do the portraits of Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster appear twice ?