Voice of Te Kanawa soars

Press, 9 December 1988, Page 26

Voice of Te Kanawa soars

MOZART: Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano, sings concert arias with Mitsuko Uchida, piano and the E.C.O. conducted by Jeffrey Tate. Philips CD 420 950-2, DDD. Cassette available shortly.

One of the unfortunate side effects of thinning down one’s talents is that it also thins down one’s popularity. Kiri Te Kanawa must have wondered why this inevitable truth hit her so hard, but this is the price of self indulgence. It comes as a welcome relief to hear this brand new issue, which covers only the high peak of her talents. Perhaps it is more a matter of principal than ability that various ventures have gained her little endearment in her native land. It must be seldom that anyone speaks of her as “Our Kiri,” as they once did with “Our Glad.”

the New Zealand soprano than Mozart opera: here she proves this beyond all

doubt with an illustrious programme from Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail and Don Giovanni, plus the concert arias K 505 and K 369.

Te Kanawa’s last programme of this type was issued in 1981, on Decca LP 5XL6999. She has carefully avoided any duplication of items, another big point in her favour. Rising above all criticism though, is the superb quality of her vocal range and the immense talent she brings to the arias. She is as good as ever, coping magnificently with the fiendish difficulties set by the composer, particularly in Calmatevi, Idol Mio — Non Mi Dir from Don Giovanni, where she is joined by the tenor, Peter Bronder.

Here Kiri Te Kanawa rates with the great sopranos of all time. —ALLAN FRANCIS

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