Te Kanawa, Kiri

Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Royal Albert Hall Celebration

In 1998 a concert at the Royal Albert Hall celebrated Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday and featured more than two hours of hits from a body of work spanning almost three decades. In this keepsake of a memorable night, star after star steps on to a massive, Eurovision-style set to revisit golden moments in their long association with Britain's most successful composer of musicals. Elaine Paige in big frocks and an even bigger voice delivers "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "Memory" with her usual power; Michael Ball and Donny Osmond stretch the last vestiges of boyish charm to the very limits but still sound great; and Boyzone gets the youth vote. Then there are Kiri Te Kanawa, Bonnie Tyler, Tina Arena, and, of course, another encore for brother Julian Lloyd Webber and those Variations on the cello. But the stars are Sir Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Brightman in an outstanding selection from The Phantom of the Opera (probably his best work), Antonio Banderas (who really can sing), and Glenn Close, a stupendous, moving Norma Desmond in songs from Sunset Boulevard. All in all, a deserved celebration for someone who has given so many people a great deal of pleasure, and a treat for musicals fans of all ages. --Piers Ford

Mozart - Don Giovanni / Maazel, Raimondi, Te Kanawa, Paris Opera

Set in Seville in the 1600s, young nobleman Don Giovanni is a well-known philanderer with a long list of amorous conquests. After he attempts to seduce the beautiful Donna Anna, her father's battle to protect her ends in tragedy. A film version of Mozart's greatest opera, directed by Joseph Losey (The Servant), with music direction by Lorin Maazel. 177 minutes. Cast:

Ruggero Raimondi: Don Giovanni
John Macurdy: The Commendatore
Edda Moser: Donna Anna
Kiri Te Kanawa: Donna Elvira
Kenneth Riegel: Don Ottavio
José van Dam: Leporello
Teresa Berganza: Zerlina
Malcolm King: Masetto
Eric Adjani: A Valet in Black

The Making of West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein

Filmed in 1984, the feature-length documentary Leonard Bernstein Conducts "West Side Story" follows the composer as he records the first-ever complete recording of his musical-theater masterpiece. Virtually the entire documentary takes place in a New York recording studio with a pick-up orchestra, session singers, and headliners Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria), José Carreras (Tony), Tatiana Troyanos (Anita), and Kurt Ollmann (Riff). The 89-minute program alternates rehearsal footage with complete final takes of the main numbers--including "Tonight," "America," and "Maria"--with limited comments from the principal players. Te Kanawa explains how much the music means to her, Troyanos notes how she grew up in the very streets depicted on stage, and Carreras provides a rare moment of tension when a session ends unsatisfactorily. Bernstein himself is by turns commanding, charming, enthusiastic, and weary. This is a fascinating insight into what happens as a major album is recorded. --Gary S. Dalkin

1. Arrival of the principal singers, blending off 2. I feel Pretty (Piano rehearsal) 3. First session: introduction of the principals 4. Tonight (ensemble) (rehearsal) 5. Jet Song (recording) 6. Cool (recording) 7. Tonight (Piano rehearsal) 8. Something's Coming (recording: take, playback, retakes) 9. Troyanos on working with Bernstein "Tonight (Ensemble)" (recording) 10. Tonight (Ensemble) (recording- contd.) 11. Bernstein talks about the orchestra, "I feel pretty" (recording) 12. Te Kanawa on working with Bernstein 13. Problem passages, "Dance at the Gym" (recording & playbacks) 14. Bernstein talks to the press "Dance at the Gym" (recording-contd.) 15. Recording Nina and Alexander Bernstein ("Meeting Scene" - "Dance at the Gym") (recording- contd.) 16. Te Kanawa on West Side Story, "Somewhere" (recording) 17. Troyanos on recording, "America" (rehearsal and recording) 18. One Hand, One Heart (recording) 19. Te Kanawa on singing Bernstein's music 20. Maria (piano rehearsal) 21. Maria (recording) 22. Carreras on the Interruption, "Maria" (recording- contd.) 23. Te Kanawa on working with Berstein 24. A Boy like that "I have love" (recording) 25. Gee, Officer Krupke (recording) 26. Balcony Scene (recording) 27. Berstein on recording West side Story, "Balcony Scene" (recording) 28. End titles

Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)

This Rosenkavalier is a nearly perfect combination of music, singers, staging, and conducting. It examines the whole spectrum of love from every perspective: youthful idealism, consenting adultery, predatory lechery, and autumnal regrets. Richard Strauss's music is exquisite; the emotional climate includes tenderness, sophistication, and sentimentality, with a healthy dose of near-slapstick. This is a treatment to live with on a desert island.

Kiri Te Kanawa garners most of the acclaim in what is probably her best role, but the entire cast is superbly chosen and works together in fine-tuned ensemble--not only the impulsive Octavian of Anne Howells, Barbara Bonney's sweet, timid Sophie, and Aage Haugland's, boorish, pretentious Baron Ochs, but everyone, including servants, domestic spies, and the social-climbing Herr Faninal. The sets and costumes are sumptuous; the sound and video images well defined. Georg Solti conducts with a subtlety and lyric lilt not always found in his work. --Joe McLellan

This opulent Royal Opera production by Oscar-winning film director John Schlessinger stars Kiri Te Kanawa in what "deserves to be ranked…among her finest achievements".(Financial Times).Also stars Anne Howells, Aage Haugland, and Barbara Bonney. Conducted by George Solti. Color, 197 minutes. Subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese.

Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro / Te Kanawa, Cotrubas, von Stade, Luxon, Skram, Fryatt; Pritchard, Glyndebourne Opera

Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart's timeless opera buffa, is one of the greatest of all operatic masterpieces. It is based on Beaumarchais' comedy Le Marriage de Figaro and tells the tale of the servant Figaro, who is about to marry the maid Susanna. Count Almaviva, keeping an eye on Susanna himself, tries to prevent this marriage with the help of Bortolo, the doctor, but is continually thwarted.

This exquisite production by Peter Hall, Director of the National Theatre, features a host of renowned opera singers lead by Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess, the role that made her an international superstar. Knut Skram's charming and likeable take on the character of Figaro works very well with Cotruba's gentle Susanna. Also noteworthy is the outstanding Frederica von Stade, elebrated for her performance in the trouser role of Cherubino.

From the Glyndebourne Festical Opera 1973.
Picture Format: 4:3 • Subtitles: I, D, F, GB, SP
Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Metropolitan Opera Gala - James Levine's 25th Anniversary

Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)

Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is a comedy whose dark undertones explore the blurred boundaries between dying feudalism and emerging Enlightenment. Among dozens of fine Figaros on CD and DVD, few are as finely sung as this one, filmed in 1976 to a soundtrack recorded the previous year.

Herman Prey's Figaro is admirably sung in a firm baritone and aptly characterized. So too, is his antagonist, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the Count perpetually frustrated by the scheming wiles of Figaro and Susanna, here the perky Mirella Freni, who sings and acts like a dream. The Countess is creamy-voiced Kiri Te Kanawa, and the Cherubino, Maria Ewing, looks just like the horny, teenaged page she's supposed to be. The all-star leads are complemented by worthy supporting singers, the Vienna Philharmonic at the top of its form, and the experienced Mozartian, Karl Böhm conducting a stylishly fleet performance.

The problematic visuals though, don't match the musical attributes of this Figaro. Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle says film techniques of editing and special effects permit added musical and interpretive components. So we get nervously irrelevant camera movements, distorted close-ups, jump-cuts that place singers in impossible places during arias, and--most distracting of all--arias on the soundtrack while the "singer" stares close-mouthed at walls, ceilings, and furnishings. Try Te Kanawa's beautifully sung "Porgi amor" to see how this distracting technique subverts the music, rather than "complementing" it. Of course, this may not bother many but others will prefer to listen to the glorious soundtrack and give Ponnelle's directorial hubris a pass. --Dan Davis

Johann Strauss - Die Fledermaus / Domingo, Te Kanawa, Prey, Royal Opera Covent Garden

Most opera houses ring in the New Year with Johann Strauss Jr.'s most popular operetta--the festiveness of which is appropriate for the occasion--and this December 31, 1983, Covent Garden performance follows suit. An exceptional cast--led by Hermann Prey and Kiri Te Kanawa as the couple whose marriage survives the comic indiscretions of three long acts--obviously has as much fun as the audience. Plácido Domingo leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House through its paces with panache. Prince Orlofsky's Act II party is always a splendid opportunity to pull out all the stops with surprise "guests," and this performance makes the most of its chance: entering the proceedings to sing one of his tailor-made chansons, "She," is French crooner Charles Aznavour, who is followed by dancers Merle Park and Wayne Eagling, their delightful pas de deux flashily choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton. --Kevin Filipski

Kiri Te Kanawa is featured in this glittering Covent Garden Opera production of Johann Strauss' masterpiece. Placido Domingo conducts the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus. Other soloists include Hermann Prey, Hildegard Heichele, Benjamin Luxon.

Puccini - Manon Lescaut / Sinopoli, Domingo, Te Kanawa, Allen, Royal Opera Covent Garden

Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa were in top form vocally when this performance was recorded in 1984; Sinopoli's conducting is energetic and stylistically distinctive, and the staging strikes the proper notes of elegance in the early scenes and pathos in the tragic conclusion. This is not the only good video recording of Puccini's first masterpiece, but it ranks with the best.

Manon Lescaut is the story of a beautiful young woman who goes astray en route to a convent and drifts into life of self-indulgence, sexual exploitation, and crime, leading to her death as a convict, a story full of operatic situations. It inspired two operas in the standard repertoire, Puccini's and Massenet's earlier Manon. Puccini took a big risk going mano a mano with Massenet, but it worked; he did not eclipse Massenet, but this work gave his career a major boost. This production shows why it has captivated so many audiences. --Joe McLellan

"Manon", wrote Puccini to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in 1889, "is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the heart of the public." This turned out to be a truly prophetic statement since none of Puccini's other world successes were received on their first nights as rapturously as Manon Lescaut. The popularity of Puccini's great masterpiece has never waned and the highly acclaimed Götz Friedrich production at Covent Garden was hailed as an operatic milestone. Two of the world's leading stars--Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo--head a strong cast conducted by the brilliant Italian conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli. Sung in Italian with English subtitles.

Verdi - Simon Boccanegra / Levine, Te Kanawa, Metropolitan Opera