Dame Kiri Te Kanawa: Portrait

Nigel Wattis directed the film biography of incomparable soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. Melvyn Bragg, as narrator, leads us through the singer's life, and talks to her about her life and career, while other artist personalities such as George Solti, Dame Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge, Jeffrey Tate, Stephen Barlow and John Hopkins add their personal impressions.

This portrait, dedicated to Kiri Te Kanawa's teacher of many years, Vera Rozas, was filmed in 1991, and accompanies the soprano through a whole year. It follows her on trips to New Zealand and the San Francisco Opera, where she was preparing her role in Strauss's Capriccio. The film includes recordings of her in excerpts from arias by Handel, Mozart, Charpentier, Puccini and Cilèa, as well as in the final scene of Capriccio, and in songs by Richard Strauss.