Kiri Te Kanawa and VSO deliver a crowd-pleaser

Kiwi singer ranges from astonishing crescendos to touching fragility

 

by David Gordon Duke

Kiri Te Kanawa
In concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Orpheum Theatre, Sept. 30

Given Vancouver’s longstanding love affair with New Zealand diva Kiri Te Kanawa, it was no surprise to discover a packed Orpheum on Thursday for the first of the VSO’s “specials” of the season. It’s been rumoured that after years at the top of her profession, Te Kanawa is phasing out her stage work— all the more reason to treasure the opportunity to hear her in a recital of opera excerpts with orchestral accompaniment.

Thursday’s selection was derived exclusively from the lush late-Romantic repertoire, heavily weighted towards French and Italian composers. There were no mad scenes, no overheated drama, no florid virtuosity, no embarrassing crossover numbers; just four generous sets (plus encores) wisely chosen to favour Te Kanawa’s splendid sense of line and lyric expressiveness.

After a rousing reading of Wagner’s Act III introduction to Lohengrin, Te Kanawa’s first group began with her only German selection, a luminous aria from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 1920 hit Die Tote Stadt, followed by Signore, ascolta from Puccini’s nearly contemporary Turandot, complete with astonishing high register crescendos from pianissimo to just under medium volume. The set ended with a charming excerpt from Spanish pianist-composer Enrique Granados’ Goyescas. Granados’ rich but not entirely practical orchestration produced the only moment in the evening where Te Kanawa was veiled by the orchestra.

As an interlude, Maestro Bramwell Tovey led the orchestra in the saccharin Meditation from Massenet’s Thais, providing a sneak preview of the sensitive playing of the VSO’s new concertmaster, Mark Fewer. Te Kanawa returned with two further examples of late romantic French opera, Depuis le jour from Charpentier’s “naturalistic” saga of class and convention, Louise. The most overtly dramatic thrill of the evening came in Adieu, notre petite table from Massenet’s Manon, where she quietly established an affecting aura of delicacy and vulnerability.

The second half brought even more popular repertoire: further Puccini — excerpts from La Boheme — explored the touching fragility that Te Kanawa now projects with such conviction. Then, after an orchestral melange of tunes from Carmen, a final set included Cilea and more Bizet before the recital officially concluded with the most anticipated crowd-pleaser of the evening—- the luscious Ebben, ne andro lontano from Catalani’s La Wally.

Vancouver Sun
2 Oct. 2004

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