Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Few would have been drawn to this Gala Concert by the possibility of unexpected musical fare. In an evening of well-known arias and choruses, the lure was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's presence.
We were here to celebrate the renaming of the Aotea Centre's ASB Theatre in her honour.
The Freemasons
NZ Opera Chorus framed proceedings with the familiar Whakaarie Mai
and Hine e Hine and, in a resolutely Italian line-up, thrilled with a climactic few minutes from Wagner.
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Anna Leese seemed a mite nervous at first with her deftly turned Merce, diletti amiche but easily won our hearts with a Kiri classic, O mio babbino caro. An incandescent Pene Pati was the star, his glorious Una furtiva lagrima reminding us of the tenor's on stage triumph in last year's The Elixir of Love.
Pati's magnetic brand of effortless lyricism made for a memorable Pearl Fishers duet with James Ioelu and an engaging 17 minutes from La Boheme with Leese. Confined to a square metre of stage, the two took us to the opera house as characters Rodolfo and Mimi. Pati got laughs with some waggish stage business; Leese impressed with her minutely observed characterisation.