Rave reviews in Sydney for Te Kanawa in ‘Traviata’

Press, 29 August 1978, Page 18

Rave reviews in Sydney for Te Kanawa in ‘Traviata’

The New Zealand opera singer, Kiri Te Kanawa, can count the Australian star, Joan Sutherland, among those impressed with her debut as Violetta in La Traviata in the Sydney Opera House last week, NZPA reports. The New Zealand High Commissioner in Australia (Mr L. J. Francis) held a reception for Miss Te Kanawa, and among the

guests invited was Miss Sutherland.

The Australian singer declined the invitation because of a policy of not going out. the night before a performance. Miss Sutherland is appearing in “Norma,” which is being performed at the Opera house. But she did send a message to the reception, saying she thought Kiri was, “absolutely terrific.” “La Traviata recieved rave reviews.

In the “Australian” newspaper, Maria Prerauer described it as “a superb production in every way from its enchanting star Kiri Te Kanawa to its simpatico musical direction under Richard Bonynge and John Copley’s dramatic staging. “Te Kanawa’s magnificent golden voice is a phenomenon in itself . - . It is one of the most incredible instruments I have ever heard. She also described Miss Te Kanawa as a great actress.

In the “Sydney Morning Herald,” Roger Coveil said the performance came alive for him in the second scene of act two,

when Kiri Te Kanawa made a stunning entrance dressed in black and began to move into the elegiac phase of Violetta’s brief and pathetic history. “Up to then this Violetta, handsome in appearance, creamy and strong in voice, moved in obedience to the often complex demands of John Copley as producer but

lacked, in my estimation, real animation,” he says. H. R. Forst, writing in the “Daily Telegraph,” said that to understand Miss Te Kanawa’s meteoric rise to international stardom she had to be heard in “La Traviata.” “Praising her as a miraculous singer is telling only half the story,” he wrote. “Her character-

isation grows out of the vocal line, she breathes life into her movements from it and the composite picture becomes completely integrated. It is the whole person on the stage that keeps the audience enthralled.” Forst said that scenically and musically, the performance soared to inspired heights.