An Evening with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Television (Full Length) – 1994

In January 1994, on a balmy evening on Auckland's waterfront, superstar soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa takes to the stage in front of a home crowd. In what was also a television event (introduced by Paul Holmes), Te Kanawa is backed by the Auckland Philharmonia led by British conductor Stephen Barlow. She performs a generous repertoire including the operatic arias that helped make her famous (an incandescent 'Un Bel Di' from Madame Butterfly and her signature 'O Mio Babbino Caro'), alongside three sets of popular songs, musical tunes and jazz standards. The rapt audience, many watching from moored boats, are also rewarded with an a capella 'Pōkarekare Ana'.

The Daily Telegraph in London described her as the least snobbish singer in the world and here is one of the least snobbish conductors in the world, Stephen Barlow...
– Paul Holmes introduces Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's outdoor concert at Auckland's Hobson Wharf