SUCCESS WAS RAPID

Te Ao Hou, July 1958, Page 12

SUCCESS WAS RAPID This was the beginning of his career as a world performer and he was to take parts in such operas as The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, Billy Budd and Gloriana, parts for the last two being specially written for him, by Benjamin Britten. For those familiar with the music of this composer it will be realised what a great achievement this was. At Covent Garden he was to sing under the baton of great conductors such as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham and others. He sang before the Queen on three separate occasions, one of which was at a concert in the Festival Hall given in honour of the Queen before she left for the Commonwealth tour. Once his reputation was established he began to have invitations to perform on television and in the films. He played the lead in three films including the J. Arthur Rank production of “The Seekers”. In television films he took parts in the Agi series and the Saba series. Recently he played the part of a Maori in the play “In the Wake of the Long White Cloud”. This was written by a New Zealander named Bruce Stewart and is all about New Zealand. His talks on television to children are mostly about Maori culture and Maori clothing and weapons. When he returns to England he will take part in the musical “The Most Happy Fella”. This was written by the same author as “Guys and Dolls” but so far there has been no film version of this production. These are the highlights of Te Wiata's life since he left these shores some eleven years ago but the isolation of New Zealand makes it difficult for us to realize what is needed in performance and tenacity to reach the heights which he reached, in a highly competitive field in a world class. Inia Te Wiata has developed his talents as a singer and an actor to a remarkable degree and only he will know the self-sacrifice and hard work which is the background of his success. His talent as a musician is of an unusual kind—he loves a ‘spicy programme’ moving from classical arias to simple folk music from the serious to the comic. For every song and almost every phrase he has a different mood and voice. Even old favourites like ‘Ole Man River’ and ‘The Song of the Flea’ are brought to life by unexpected but very apt voice modulations and mimicry. The gramophone records give no idea of what the performance is like, as so much acting comes into it. Every word and idea comes out with perfect clarity. His enormous presonality portrays the character of the songs, yet he never intrudes himself as a person. This is probably the test of any great artist and the most difficult achievement. Unfortunately it is impossible for Inia Te Wiata to stay in New Zealand. There are no opportunities for him here. He has drawn out his tour as long as he could, spending some time in his home town Otaki where there is still a building site specially kept open for him when he wishes to make his home there. Meanwhile, haere ra, Inia.