Kiri Te Kanawa Interview (page: 3 / 9) Beloved Opera Singer	Print Interview

In 1981, you were invited to sing at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Six hundred million people around the globe were watching on television. What was that like?

Kiri Te Kanawa: I suppose it wasn't quite as bad as the debut at the Met, but it was close. It was, once again, a huge melee of people, and the right things to do and the wrong things to do, and where you had to be. And there's no toilet. So be sure you know what you're doing. And I thought, "Well, I have to drink." I think if there had to be a down side of it -- I did the silliest thing in my entire life, but I wanted to do it. Because I'd done it sort of the way I wanted to.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I decided to do Cosi and Don Giovanni side by side. One night would be Don Giovanni, one night would be Cosi fan tutte. One night off. One night it would be Cosi fan tutte and one night it would be Don Giovanni. Night off. I did that four times, and nearly killed myself, because we all did. There was a little bit of a pact amongst us, Tom Allen, and I can't remember who the others were. But we all decided to do these roles, two of them, for Covent Garden. It was like a Covent Garden fest. I think there was most probably (Magic) Flute, Don Giovanni, Cosi and Figaro. I'm not sure if I -- I'm pretty sure I did the Don Giovanni and the Cosi. I can't remember exactly. And in the middle of it, I did the royal wedding. And I thought, "How dumb is this, to have got myself to this stage that I've just actually wiped myself out? There's going to be no voice left." So I went and stayed up in London for two weeks in a hotel. So I'd go and do the performance, I'd walk down back to the hotel. It wasn't very far from Covent Garden. And I'd get in that bed and I'd sleep all day. And I'd get up, get up for air, go and have a meal and go back to bed. And I'd shut up for the whole two weeks and just stayed in bed and sang, bed, sang. And that was it.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

And I got to the royal wedding by chance. I can't remember the exact day, what my schedule was. But Covent Garden and then the royal wedding! I thought, "Oh God. I'll never do this again!" Because it was already set in stone. The productions were set in stone. I was booked to do it. Then the royal wedding came up, and I thought, "Oh my God, how am I going to get through this?"

How did you receive the actual invitation?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Kiri Te Kanawa: It came through Covent Garden. It was John Turley, and he must have rang my agent. Then my agent rang me. And he said, "Charlie wants you to sing at his wedding." And I said, "Charlie who?" He said, "Charles." I said, "Charles who?" "Charles Windsor." "Oh," I said, "that Charles." Because I already knew a Charlie. He's my driver. I thought, "What am I doing singing at Charlie's wedding? He's already married. " It wasn't that Charlie. It was Charles. So that came through like that. And they said, "And you can't say a single word." That was it.

Why?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Because if I told somebody, then it would have got out and all that sort of thing. So I just couldn't say a single word to anybody, because it would have got to the press. Everyone was trying to find out what was happening at the wedding, and what her dress was like, and who was going to be bridesmaids, and who was going to be all this and that, and who was invited, and all that sort of thing. And of course, the music. No one would have been thinking about that. But as we got close, of course, people would have been thinking, "Who's going to be singing?" And it was me.

Was it Charles' choice of song?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Yes, very much. He chose that song.

He's a music lover?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Yes, very much, yes. I think most probably music was put before him. Because, as in anything like this, it was such a huge wedding that they'd have to say, "Here are six obvious songs that you could have." And he had the Bach Choir, and he had the English Chamber Orchestra, and me. It was just exciting.

When you received the invitation, did you think it over? I guess you couldn't possibly turn it down.

Kiri Te Kanawa: Oh, please. No.

Did you know that you would be heard by 600 million people on television? Did you have any idea it was going to be that big a deal?

Kiri Te Kanawa: No. No, I mean that. That didn't even cross my mind until I came up to the church that day, and I thought, "Oh my God! All these people. It was just unbelievable.

Were you more nervous for that than for an opera debut?

Kiri Te Kanawa: No. I know what those notes are like. This one was a bit more specialized because, you know, there's timing. I certainly had to be there on time and in the right position. I mean, if I was behind the Queen's carriage, I was done for. I had to be in front of her. Because behind her, everything shut down. So you have to be in front of the carriage. So I got in a taxi, or Charlie, my driver, took me to the church.

What did you wear?

Kiri Te Kanawa: I wore an outfit which I bought in Paris, and they made it specially for me. A man called Philip Somerville wrote to me and said that he makes hats and could he make my hat. So I took the dress to him and I put the dress on. He put this hat on me as if to say, "That will do." Of course, everyone says I looked like a bird of paradise, but I thought I looked fine. So now that dress and the hat are in the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. A lot of my things have gone into the museum now, like letters from Prince Charles and letters from other members of the royal family who I've received letters and invitations and Christmas cards from, will all go into the Museum of New Zealand, which is very important for our own little history.

You've sung for other royal events as well, haven't you?

Kiri Te Kanawa: A lot, yes. I've sung for the Queen. I've sung for all of them.

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