Kiri Te Kanawa has earned worldwide fame for her beautiful soprano voice and the ease and style with which she performs the great opera classics. As part of her farewell tour, opera fans will welcome Kiri Te Kanawa to the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, on Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at 8:00pm.
Te Kanawa was born in New Zealand and was accepted, without audition, to study at the London Opera Centre in 1965. Performing at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, she achieved international fame as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. Following her successes in London, Te Kanawa made her American debut in 1971 at the Santa Fe Opera, again as the Countess, played the same role for her San Francisco Opera debut in 1972, and made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1974 as Desdemona in Otello. She has made a specialty of Richard Strauss' aristocratic ladies, including her first appearance in the title role in Arabella at the Houston Grand Opera in 1977, followed by roles as the Marchallin in Der Rosenkavalier and the Countess in Capriccio.
Te Kanawa has performed at famed opera houses around the world, including La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Her memorable performances include Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Arabella in, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Violetta in La Traviata¸Tosca in Tosca, Pamina in The Magic Flute¸ and, most notably, her numerous performances as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In 1981, Dame Kiri was chosen to sing Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim" at Westminster Abbey in London at the marriage of Prince Charles to the Lady Diana Spencer. The following year, she was named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Kiri Te Kanawa will perform at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, on Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at 8:00pm. -- www.mccallumtheatre.com
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