Induction Duets

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performs at this month’s Hollywood Bowl’s season-opening gala, which will also serve as the soprano’s induction into the Bowl’s Hall of Fame. Te Kanawa spoke candidly with the Los Angeles Times about reclaiming her voice after a much-publicised personal past. Te Kanawa now appears to be ready for another comeback. Earlier this year, she agreed to return to the Met, albeit in a speaking role in the comic opera La Fille du Régiment (she adds though, “it’s not a singing role, but I will sing &emdash; that’ll shock them”). What’s more, she says that she has just decided to sing Der Rosenkavalier one last time next year in Cologne. (Though she adds, “It will be the last time, it really is, I know it is. The last time, yes.”) Te Kanawa looks forward to singing at the Hollywood Bowl (two duets with her 1971 Figaro castmate, Frederica von Stade, plus some solo arias) and doesn’t feel that being inducted to the Hall of Fame or receiving other lifetime achievement awards means that her career is over. She says without regret that her recitals and teaching are an extension of her career and not an epilogue. She insists that she’s not looking for new operatic roles, even as she looks forward to working with composer Jake Heggie at an upcoming master class. Heggie is known for his ability to woo star sopranos by writing roles for them. “I know my own limits of perfection,” she says firmly, but later smiles, “you never say never.”