Recital At Sea

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 2

Recital At Sea

R.H.M.S. AUSTRALIS (at sea) Feb. 27.

Waves slapping against the prow of an ocean liner were deadened by a round of applause at a midCaribbean recital by the New Zealander, Miss Kiri Te Kanawa, last night.

The 21 - year - old mezzo soprano sang to fellow passengers on the Australis in a specially arranged recital.

Miss Te Kanawa is going to England, where she will study at the London Opera Centre under a Melbourne “Sun” aria scholarship. Later she will spend two years in Italy. In a dimly-lit crowded lounge she sang "Oh my beloved Father," “Ave Maria," “Do Not Go My Love,” and "Summertime,” among others, in her rich warm voice. “ ‘Do Not Go My Love’ makes me feel quite homesick," Miss Te Kanawa said before the recital. “I sang it

when I won the Mobil Song Quest.” The master of the ship. Captain Lambrinopoulos, thanked her for “an unforgettaole night. I hope you make a success of life and become a big and famous singer all over the world,” he said. As an encore Miss Te Kanawa sang “O Pokare Kareana," which received tumultuous applause from the 300 New Zealanders aboard. She spent many hours preparing for the recital. “Always things require a lot of work and I worry, however seemingly unimportant a concert might be,” she said. Her mother, who is travelling with her, said Miss Te Kanawa would never give up.

“She is very ambitious and will fight to "the last ditch. They call her the tiger with the soft heart’,” she said.