Kiri Te Kanawa Interview (page: 5 / 9) Beloved Opera Singer	Print Interview

When did you give your first public performance?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Well, I was actually paid for it. So I'll tell you about that one.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I went to a school and I sang three or four songs. And I was given a thing called two guineas. I think they still use guineas in horse trading for horse sales. So I was given two guineas to sing my three or four songs. And then I started singing at weddings and funerals, at the reception of weddings and things like that. That's how I was earning my money to pay for my clothes and my singing lessons, to help my parents out.

Were you a serious student at school?

Kiri Te Kanawa: No. People say, "Oh, she was a dreadful student!" Well, I most probably was. I went to St. Mary's College in Ponsonby in Auckland. My singing teacher was there. So anytime that she was free, they'd get the call, "Kiri's to come for singing lessons." So my ordinary education was constantly broken into by my singing teacher. I never had a definite time. She'd always pull me out of class. Now if I look back on that, it was actually very wrong. They should have put me into classes that were going to advance my education, but it never happened like that. So I just went along with it and the school went along with it, because after a while, they could see that something quite sort of extraordinary was happening. But it wasn't happening right then.

Did you like to read when you were young? Were there any particular books that stood out for you?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Well, you know, I came from an area in New Zealand where, at that time, there weren't very many books. Of course, now I'm almost addicted to them. When I went to England, because I didn't know very much about England, so I was totally in love with history. I read autobiographies. I read biographies. I read about Winston Churchill, any leader of any country, especially in America. All the prime ministers and presidents I really loved to read about. Then, of course, I love reading about kings and queens of the past, Elizabeth I, and then going on with all the different history of things. I loved all that and still do.

You didn't go right into a singing career after St. Mary's. Is it true that you went to a business school?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Yes, I learned to type and some shorthand. But shorthand is now, of course, gone. Dictaphones came in. Everything has changed. But at least the one thing I can do is type. I don't have to go clunk, clunk, clunk. I can actually do it properly.

Did you work at office jobs?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Yes. I was a receptionist and things like that. All those things got me closer to working on my music. I was a telephonist, routing incoming toll calls and things, which gave me night work so I could do my studies during the day. But you're awake an awful lot. That was the problem. I got tired.

Before you went to London, you won some vocal competitions, didn't you?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Yes. I won throughout New Zealand. I went to every competition that was possible, which sort of gave me scholarships and money to help me to go overseas.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I went to a lot of competitions. And then I went to Australia and I came in second in one particular competition, and I won the next one, which also carried a scholarship. And then I went back to New Zealand and I sang a couple of concerts, which gave me some more money. And then the government gave me a scholarship and I was sort of on my way. It was not very much money at the time, but it was enough. Because nowadays, you've got to have at least 30,000 pounds a year to go to England to study. At least.

So you were already earning a little money for your singing. Were you also singing pop music or doing musicals or anything like that?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Well, I sang ... no, no.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I never really sang in a show or anything like that. I sang in -- maybe The Student Prince or something like that -- but it was just in the chorus. And I sang at nightclubs. And someone said that I sing -- I went to a place that was called the Colony. And I came in with my little songs and everything. And these people, of course, they're well into their -- really, really into their cups. I mean it's... well and well -- I mean, all over the place. And here I'm evidently -- and I'd forgotten what the impact of this was -- I was singing "Ave Maria." You can imagine! They're sort of all completely drunk and they must have really thought, "Have I just died and I'm off to heaven?" Because she's singing "Ave Maria." So evidently, it was quite surreal, that one too. But I sang my little "Ave Maria" and whatever.

You probably looked like an angel as well.

Kiri Te Kanawa: I was dressed in white. Yes. Now, of course, they'd shoot you. They'd say, "Give her the hook," and pull her off the stage.

Now that you're so well-known, do you suppose any of those people remember who was singing for them?

Kiri Te Kanawa: They actually do! I'm reminded on a regular basis. They're still alive. I think they've got no liver left at the moment. They were really drunk.

What else were you singing in these settings? Were you singing operatic arias for them?

Kiri Te Kanawa: Some, yes. I sang something like "Vissi d'arte," which was actually stupid in my voice, but I did things that I liked. I do sing a lot of songs from shows, West Side Story and South Pacific and Ivor Novello and things. None of it really hurt my voice, so it was fine.

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