Westenra joins forces
Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra, 22, will top the bill at the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 7, replacing glamorous Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins as the…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Soprano for life
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is profiled in the Guardian’s ‘Portrait of the Artist’ column in which the soprano says opera is sung by performers from “very ordinary backgrounds”. “I’m not an elitist, so I…
Grand dame’s swansong
After 40 years enthralling audiences the world over, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will give her last operatic performance next April at the Cologne Opera in Germany, playing Marschallin in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier —…
Singing his praises
Ashburton-born opera singer Simon O’Neill, 37, has been named in a list of the world’s top 10 tenors by an influential London radio station. Rankings in the July issue of Classic FM magazine position…
Induction Duets
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performs at this month’s Hollywood Bowl’s season-opening gala, which will also serve as the soprano’s induction into the Bowl’s Hall of Fame. Te Kanawa spoke candidly with the Los Angeles…
Teddy charms
“There could not have been a more dashing, roguish Count than the New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes,” writes Janelle Gelfand in a Cincinnati Enquirer review of Cincinnati Opera’s production of The Marriage of…
Adieu to a Comedienne
Opera singer Heather Begg, a mezzo-soprano who last month was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, has died in New South Wales, aged 76. Begg was the first person…
Teddy’s triumph
Baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes plays Antony in New York City Opera’s presentation of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, in a performance the New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini calls “fervent and sensitive,” “the best…
Debut at the Met
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes made news again this week with a number of glowing reviews for his first role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. The New York…
Rhodes vies for Bianca
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes performs in Rossini’s Bianca e Fallierio at Washington D.C’s Lisner Auditorium in April. Rhodes stars as Capellio, Fallierio’s rival for the affections of Bianca. Rhodes won New Zealand’s…
From death row to Don Giovanni
Star NZ baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes has shown his versatility in an impressive series of Australian opera roles this year. In August, Tahu Rhodes played construction worker Stanley Kowalski in the Australian premiere of…
Kiri’s American Valedictory
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performed in Orange County, California, in what is being billed as her North American farewell tour. Michael Rydzynski praised her engaging presence, pure tone and comic touches in a review…
Dame Kiri Begins Farewell
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has launched her farewell tour of North America in Vancouver. Canada’s Globe and Mail ran a feature on Te Kanawa, covering world famous soprano’s career from her fêted debut at…
Soprano scales new heights
Gisborne-born soprano Marie-Adele McArthur graced Opera America’s home page for the month of June, with images and video of her acclaimed performance as Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune described her as “the…
Great Scot
Alex Reedijk is leaving his post as general director of the NZ Opera to take the reins at its Scottish counterpart in March 2006. Reedjik has previously worked for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scottish…
Teddy Fan-club on the Rise
Kiwi baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes continues to set hearts a-flutter in the opera world. The Sydney media have called him “opera’s Brad Pitt,” the New York Times “a cross between Paul Bettany and Viggo…
Poptastic
‘Opera band’ Amici Forever’s clever fusion of classical and pop music continues to win them fans in the US and around the world. The brainchild of Kiwi member Geoff Sewell, Amici Forever’s debut album…
Prom Date
Jonathan Lemalu and the NZSO were guest performers at this year’s BBC Proms. The prestigious annual event is held at the Royal Albert Hall and reaches a global audience of millions. Times: “Flesh and…
Edge awardees
NZ performers Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Ross McCormack were commended at the annual Helpmann Awards in Sydney, August 10. Rhodes was named Best Male Performer in an Opera for his lead role in…
Teddy the complete package
Teddy Tahu Rhodes has won over American critics with his starring role in Cincinnati Opera’s Don Giovanni. Cincinnati Enquirer: “As murderous rakes go, Rhodes wielded considerable charm … voice combined…
Classics with an edge
NZer Geoff Sewell is the brains (and tenor) behind the hottest act to hit international classical and mainstream charts since Hayley Westenra – Amici Forever: The Opera Band. The quintet – hailing from…
Kiri Vows to Remain a Friend in a High Place
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has announced that she will continue singing despite turning 60 this year – the age at which she has previously said she would retire. Her chief reason is to keep…
No worries for Wunderkid
Dunedin-born baritone, Jonathan Lemalu, is soon to make his Royal Opera House debut as Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando. Described by the Guardian as “ the next Bryn Terfel,” his career has skyrocketed since graduating…
World-first opera band
NZEdged tenor Geoff Sewell (2nd from L, above) and his London-based opera band Amici Forever have signed a record-breaking six million pound recording deal. Their first album is to be released in the UK…
Ted Man Walking
Kiwi baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes is the Weekend Australian’s cover-boy for his lead role in opera Dead Man Walking, which opens shortly at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre. The opera is based on the story of…
Something to Sing About
Singing star Jonathan Lemalu gave a recital at London’s St Lawrence Jewry church as part of the City of London’s New Generations series. Financial Times: “In the English-language repertoire the young New Zealander is…
The singing accountant
Front page Weekend Australian feature on “Kiwi heart-throb” Teddy Tahu Rhodes hails the former accountant from Christchurch as “Australian opera’s new lead.” “While his body, all 192cm of it, caused titters in the audience…
In Good Company
Kiwi songstress Hayley Westenra is to join a star-studded line-up, including Jose Carreras, at Wales’ prestigious Faenol Festival in August. According to organisers, Westenra’s performance is one of the most highly anticipated of the…
Songbird flees her cage
“I’m moving away from opera performance … I like to make a big occasion of it when I sing. I have performed in exotic and marvellous situations in Turkey and Korea, and in the…
Big Ted gets bigger
NZ baritone Teddy Tahu-Rhodes is receiving great acclaim as the Don to Opera Australia’s Don Giovanni. “He sings like an angel but there the resemblance ends. He does a nice line in depravity …
In high demand
Fresh out of London’s Royal College of Music, NZ-born Samoan Jonathan Lemalu is being widely touted as “the next big thing in opera.” A qualified lawyer and accomplished (former) rugby player – “I kind…
Third time’s a charm
NZ tenor Benjamin Makisi won the prestigious McDonald’s Operatic Aria in Sydney after making the finals three years running. He intends to put his NZ$41,110 prize money towards enrolment in a European opera studio….
Kiri to sing at Palace & Castle
Opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa will sing at Buckingham Palace June 1 as Queen Elizabeth celebrates her Golden Jubilee party. Taking the stage alongside Kiri will be Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and opera’s latest…
Westenra captivates Wembley
NZ singing prodigy Hayley Westenra accompanies Russell “The Voice” Watson to a sold-out Wembley Stadium and provides some sonar respite in a Telegraph review of Russell’s talents. “At Wembley, he was joined by…
Dame Kiri in Greece
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, “a woman with an exotic beauty and – beyond any doubt – an absolutely stunning voice” who “personifies the modern version of a diva most completely” talks about her roles,…
Difficulty in the holy land
Dame Kiri in Israel “to do music”. “I love things that are difficult. I love looking for new arias and presenting them to the public,” said edge voice Dame Kiri.
Knickers name
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sang with the late Harry Secombe, who found her name tricky, so re-christened her “Tin Knickers”.
Moving Opera
Diva Kiri Te Kanawa’s welcome to the millennium was “the first, and one of the relatively few, moving moments among a hailstorm of images bearing down from around the globe during marathon New Year’s…
Scottish
“The evening’s most accomplished performance comes from the New Zealand tenor Ian Storey, whose Pinkerton is sung with rich and fluent tone and acted with a rare warmth and understanding.”
Still singing
Dame Kiri scotches retirement rumours. Her agents are “actively seeking engagements and opportunities well into 21 and beyond”.
Dame Delights
“Well, little Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a friend of mine. She’s a little New Zealand singer.” Dame Edna Everage of Australia on her illustrious mate, Kiri.
Dame Kiri Star Attraction at Arts Fundraiser
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and her “velvet voice” joined Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, raising $200,000 for the NAC. The Ottawa Citizen describes her as “one of the world’s great opera stars”.
Dame Kiri at the Meyerson Symphony Centre
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, star soprano, is appearing in a recital in Dallas. “In recitals it’s a partnership—you and your pianist partner performing for each other. I love that give-and-take, that wonderful feeling of…
More Rings Buzz
No, not the Lord of the Rings … amidst speculation about upcoming productions of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn has been picked to sing the part of Kundry in the State…
Simply the best: Dame Kiri: the Tina Turner of the opera world?
Dame Kiri talks about her Maori heritage, playing to an audience of 600 million people, her forthcoming concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and how long she can keep performing. Interviewing the world-renowned soprano,…
Teddy Tahu Rhodes: Kiwi man singing Houston
Teddy Tahu Rhodes, “a New Zealand baritone well known in Sydney for his Opera Australia appearances”, is playing the lead role of Joe in the Houston Grand Opera’s rendering of Dead Man Walking. It…
Legend Kiri Te Kanawa Opens on Stage in Montreal
Kiri Te Kanawa enjoys almost unique prestige in the public eye. She attracted a VIP crowd (including Prime Minister Jean Cretien) to the Centre Pierre Peladeau.
