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The furore in New Zealand over Dame Kiri te Kanawa‘s apparent criticism of Kiwi popera divette Hayley Westenra may now be on a downward slope after peaking earlier this weekend.

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So La Cieca thinks it’s time to declare this officially: Kiri te Kanawa has become a mean old bat. The downbeat diva, most recently in the headlines for her controversial anti-panty policy, has gone and dished Hayley Westenra, who apparently is a New Zealand popera singer. (Well, to be perfectly fair, “apparently” isn’t so accurate a way of putting it. Ms. Westenra’s debut CD currently ranks as “the biggest-selling classical album of the 21st century.” Really, cher public, you should keep La Cieca up to date on stuff like this.)

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On April 17, Dame Kiri te Kanawa returns to the scene of… well, not a crime, actually, more like a triumph: that is, her surprise Met debut in Otello way back in 1974. No, she’s not singing, but on April 17 she will make a personal appearance at the Metropolitan Opera Shop, to greet her fans and sign CDs from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The following day, the controversial Kiwi canary will grace this year’s Metropolitan Opera Guild Luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria. The alphabetical list of singers and other colleagues who are scheduled to honor the diva includes Licia [...]

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Operatic trailblazer Kiri te Kanawa has won yet another victory for every soprano who doesn’t really feel all that much like singing anyway. The Kiwi canary testified that it was only after agreeing to appear on a concert program with veteran pop icon John Farnham that she discovered that some of his fans expressed their enthusiasm by throwing their panties onstage. The diva, noting that Farnham collected the frilly underthings “as a sort of trophy,” sniffed that she would find performing in such a milieu “disrespectful.” Dame Kiri is pictured at right performing a scene from Mozart’s Don Giovanni with [...]

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Dame Kiri perturbed by flying underwear, court told Underwear tossing a deal breaker for opera star TE KANAWA PULLED OUT OF CONCERT BECAUSE OF RAUNCHY FANS Court told of dame’s fear of undie throwers Dame Kiri got knickers in twist over concerts

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11:40: Then Rene Pape matched Hvorostovsky, then Zajick matched (topped?) them both, then who the hell had the idiotic idea of doing the Easter Hymn with a mezzo who can’t sing it and the chorus apparently stoned or else in another city? (Oh, and did you notice the long, noisy scene change afterward? Vintage Volpe.)11:05: Finally, SOMETHING that sounds like it belongs on a gala. Hvorostovsky may not sound quite that huge in the house, but it’s a star voice performing like a star. Stunning breath control (and a fine sense of line) in the first phrase of the “Io [...]

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