Kanawa

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's magnificent soprano breathes a fresh spirit into operatic favorites by Mozart, Puccini and Wagner in this collection of arias and other songs. Per Piate, Ben Mio, O Mio Bambino Caro and Vissi D'Arte are joined by Gustav Holst's In the Bleak Midwinter and the pop classic "The Windmills of Your Mind," among others. A diverse and exciting collection from one of the finest voices of our age.

New Zealand born soprano Kiri Te Kanawa is of Maori descent. Her earliest vocal studies were with Sister Maria Leo in Auckland. She won the Melbourne Sun contest and went to London where she studied with Vera Rozsa at the London Opera Center. It was there that she first appeared on stage as the second lady in Die Zauberflöte of Mozart. In 1969, she sang Elena in Rossini's La donna del lago at the Camden Festival.

The discography of Strauss’s last opera is not exactly crowded, but the two existing accounts provide formidable competition for any newcomer. First there was Sawallisch, conducting the Philharmonia for EMI in 1957 (unfortunately in mono) and a cast led by Schwarzkopf, Ludwig and Fischer-Dieskau. Then, in 1971, came that other supreme Straussian, Karl Böhm, with Janowitz, Troyanos and (again) Fischer-Dieskau, recorded in Munich for DG. The new Decca set brings together many of today’s leading exponents of Strauss’s roles, dominated, for me, by the unsurpassed Clairon of Brigitte Fassbaender, now alas, never to be heard on stage again following her retirement. Heilmann and Bär make an ardent pair of rival suitors, Hagegård an admirable Count and Halem a sonorous, characterful La Roche. (There is a delightful link with the past history of the opera in the person of Hans Hotter: he sang Olivier in the 1942 premiere, La Roche in the 1957 Sawallisch set, and here, at 84 when recorded in December 1993, a one-line cameo as a servant.) For many, though, the set’s desirability will rest on Te Kanawa’s Countess.

The operetta Die Fledermaus is Johann Strauss' most brilliant and best-known stage work. It's a glittering comedy packed with Viennese music that has become a firm favourite in opera houses all over the world. A top international cast really have a ball in this highly-acclaimed 1984 New Year's Eve performance from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in which Placido Domingo makes a very stylish British conducting debut. Kiri Te Kanawa stars with her celebrated performance as Rosalinde, and the charismatic Austrian baritone Hermann Prey is Eisenstein, one of his trademark roles. The cast also includes Benjamin Luxon as Dr Falke and Hildegarde Heichele as Adele.

Sir Georg Solti conducts an outstanding cast - led by Kiri Te Kanawa in one of her most celebrated stage roles - in Elijah Moshinsky's acclaimed production from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Michael Yeargan's designs beautifully evoke fourteenth-century Genoa - the setting for one of Verdi's most heartfelt operas of public and private passion.

Kiri Te Kanawa does well by these songs, avoiding the billowing excesses of sentiment that in other hands (or vocal chords) can make them sound much too soggy. Although Berlioz gathered them all together under the present title, all of the songs were composed at different times for different singers, so they aren't really a cycle at all. I seldom listen to all of them at once, and you should feel free to take them in any order that suits you. "The Death of Cleopatra" is an early cantata that perfectly suits Jessye Norman's stately delivery. She's always at her best playing royalty, and if they're dying in mortal agony, so much the better.

I think these songs are among the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. Compared to the absolutely unbelievably exuberant and emotional recording of Frederica von Stade/Antonio de Almeida, the tempo of most songs here seems slow, drawn out and not quite in harmony with the character of the songs. Of course, the voice of Te Kanawa is beautiful and the sound of the orchestra is rich in detail.

This Solti performance is the perfect balance between classical structure and clarity with expressive warmth. … Perhaps I'd rather hear Judith Raskin or Margaret Price singing "Das himmlische Leben, but Kiri Te Kanawa is just fine in the end. … This is truly a great performance from beginning to end.

…To my ears she is at her creamy, relaxed best, evincing no strain at all. Her trill is firmly in place, her divisions clean, her tone even through its range and her arcing phrases soar serenely above the stave. This selection encompasses both dreamy, long-breathed arias and impassioned pyrotechnics…

This ultimate collection showcases an artist with such diversity and a voice like no other. As she approaches her 70th Birthday, she clearly shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, she will be appearing on the 3rd Series of TV series Downton Abbey, starring as Dame Nellie Melba.