All of you who said, “Oh, Kiri te Kanawa could never do Norma” are feeling pretty silly right now, aren’t you? Of course, La Cieca doesn’t mean the Bellini druidess, a role the Kiwi songbird never could have mastered even at the peak of her career, whenever that might have been. No, this Norma is…
Two things Dame Kiri te Kanawa doesn’t like to talk about: retirement and knickers. [The Australian]
She’s headlined at the Paris Opera and the Met. She’s sung for kings and queens and for Nelson Riddle. She’s provoked feuds with teenagers. But now Dame Kiri te Kanawa has revealed a hitherto undiscovered talent: fighting crime. The mayor of a New Zealand city plays recordings of the Kiwi songbird in order to deter…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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
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:…
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
