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Evocative Vocals

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By KURT LOFT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

TAMPA - Kiri Te Kanawa is old school. If you want to taste success, she says, skip the shortcuts. Get off the couch. And don't lip-sync.

"Know what you're doing," she says. "That's what I hope to pass on to students. If you know what you're doing, you'll be OK."

Te Kanawa knows what she's talking about - and certainly knows what she's doing. Through four decades, she has enjoyed acclaim as one of the world's most celebrated opera singers, a star since her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 1971.

This weekend, she comes to town as part of the Opera Tampa season, appearing for a one-night recital with pianist Warren Jones at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

When asked about the challenging roles she tackled over her career and the demanding work she continues to do, she reflects on her own advice: Do your homework.

"There are quite a lot of people who don't know what they are doing," she says of young opera singers today. "I ask them, 'Why don't you know?' Preparation is key."

The 63-year old singer speaks from the experience of a brutal, take-no-prisoners profession. Few reach the top tier in opera, which can be uncompromising in its pressures on a singer.

The New Zealand-born artist got a taste of those demands early on, when in 1974 she was asked at the last minute to replace an ailing Teresa Stratas as Desdemona in Verdi's "Othello."

If the role wasn't stressful enough, the young singer appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. But Te Kanawa started at the top because she set her sights at the top.

"She was not unprepared," Allen Hughes wrote in The New York Times. "Miss Te Kanawa won the audience from the very beginning, and did not lose it. Her voice had a lovely fresh sound ... and the impression she made as Desdemona was satisfying in every way."

For her contributions to opera, Te Kanawa's was awarded in 1982 the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire, and over the years she was conferred honorary degrees from at least a dozen universities.

An estimated 600 million people heard her sing during a live telecast of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Te Kanawa retired from doing operas four years ago but keeps up a heavy schedule of recitals and appearances with orchestras. The work is satisfying, she says, but still requires lengthy preparation and physical stamina.

An opera singer sings from the gut and must project the voice using the diaphragm rather than the throat. This technique allows opera singers to create great vocal presence and power without being amplified.

Te Kanawa sees too many young singers today relying on the microphone rather than exploring the full potential of their voice.

She laments that so much of the music industry has become electronically "subsidized" and how many so-called opera singers aren't really singing opera at all.

"It's a difficult business to be in when you have these fake singers, people who come out and they're only doing recordings," she says. "I ask if they have ever sung opera live, ever. But they sing only with microphones.

"An opera singer works with the raw voice, and they're using microphones."

Dare we ask about the crop of young, a la Britney Spears pop divas?

"They say she's fantastic, and she's lip-syncing," Te Kanawa says. "There is a lot of faking going on at the moment. It's a lie."

Te Kanawa won't be lip-syncing Saturday night at Morsani Hall, where a near sellout crowd will hang on to her every phrase. Her program includes songs by Mozart, Puccini, Cilea, Ginastera, Poulenc, Britten and Copland. She also will throw in a composer for whom she is best known, Richard Strauss.

Although Te Kanawa may be a decade or two past her prime on the operatic stage, the softer and more intimate atmosphere of a recital brings out subtleties and nuances that still are in bloom.

For anyone who loves a great vocal artist, Te Kanawa still has much to share, says Judith Lisi, president of the arts center and founder of Opera Tampa.

"Kiri is one of those few voices that are so pure and elegant, and she just rises to the top when she sings," she says.

"She's rare, and I think one of those voices that will always be remembered."

ON STAGE

Kiri Te Kanawa

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

TICKETS: $45.50 to $105.50; (813) 229-7827

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