Dame Kiri Te Kanawa - Royal Wedding 1981 - "LIVE RECORDING"

[AlphonsodeBarbo]

Who cares about what she wore...you bunch of prats! Her singing was magnificent!!!

[NART65]

My word the style police is out with a vengence.  My oh my.

[arpeggio1358]

Whatever was Dame Kiri thinking when she decided to wear this clownsuit of a dress? The hat is quite terrible too. I had thought that the biggest fashion faux pas at that wedding was Diana's dress, but Kiri's clown outfit (complete with clown ruff) is a lot worse. Purely ghastly!

[vitoduval]

That hat would have been too conservative today, was she there?

[belcunto]

she wore that??

[olympicfreak678]

I'm guessing she'll be singing it next year again? =)

[AmericanEvita]

@olympicfreak678 While Princess Di knew who Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was, I'm sure that Prince William, who was a late 90's teenager, doesn't know who she is. But ask him who the Spice Girls are, and that he'll know LOL

[Fuliginosus]

I heard that the marriage itself didn't work out so well.

[Musclevideofreak]

and the use of Handel's music that day was a touch of genius !

[rogerneon]

Somehow the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) snagged one of the first, if not THE first interview with Kiri after the wedding, and they played back the recording of her performance so she could see it for the first time. They also asked "have you ever sung in that hat before?" and she answered "Isn't this hat a killer? I chose it because it doesn't wobble." As she left, she said "I'm going to phone my mum in New Zealand and ask her how I sounded." What a delightful person she was!

[RaymondHng]

@rogerneon I saw her interviewed on NBC afterwards where she shook her head wildly saying, "It [her hat] doesn't fall off!"

[SiLoJayLo]

As u would expect, both BBC & ITV simultaneously broadcast this event. But does any1 else remember, 4 the ITV version, the video camera getting stuck? All we saw was a "still" of Dame Kiri te Kanawa's face! Technical mistakes were a lot more common in those days.

[bcugirl09]

that choir at the end sang the shit out of "Let the Celestial Concerts All Unite" OMG that last chord almost blew my speakers up!!! lol

[thedecider1984]

u should post the whole audio of the wedding on here

[gmsoyls]

utterly breathtaking! she has raised the bar for this beautiful handel air. such sensitivity, musicality. probably the only singer who rivals this interpretation is arlene auger. maybe....bravissima dame kanawa

[allislove1]

The dress (and the funny little pill-box hat) was definitely an eye-catcher. I think Dame Kiri wanted to be seen AND heard! :-)

[suzanneetmoi]

The ensemble was the height of fashion in 1981. And remember, there are all kinds of "requirements" when it comes to being in the presence of the Royal family, which also had an impact on what she chose. However, even Dame Kiri herself cringes when she views herself in the oufit she wore that day!

[leoperarm]

is there a video of this?

[suzanneetmoi]

I first fell in love with her glorious voice early on that morning when this, truly the voice of an angel, lifted through the Cathedral. Thank God that I have lived long enough to see her perform and to get to meet the most gracious lady the opera world has been graced with in many a year.

I hope the late Princess is surrounded by such angelic music....

[choirfreak26]

Oh, you're so lucky! I wasn't even born when this happened ;) That's why there's YouTube :)

[RRydnew]

I remember most of us took the day off from school and getting up at 3am (DFW time) to see the live broadcast. Kiri still holds the record for the most persons seeing 1 preformance of any singer. I am also sure that Diana is surrounded by even better(only in heaven are the voices better) music than this.

[vladislavskalicky]

there she was at the peak of her showmanship. well done

[chizel5451]

I love Dame Kiri!

But not as much as that dress *cringes*

[Tigermuc]

Good to hear the difference between the "live recording" and the later "studio production". Her voice has much matured...

[Operaman41]

I got up 4am to wathc that wedding and it was Awesome!! THe dress that Dame Kiri wore was not in bad taste in fact that was HIGH fashion in the early eighties!! Let me also remind you that are under 30 that England was setting the fashion trend at that time and that is were a LOt of the fashion came from. Compaired today Princess Diana's dress would be considered ugly.

[arpeggio1358]

@Operaman41 I'm well over 30 and I think both Diana's dress and Dame Kiri's clown suit were ghastly. I lived through the 80s and never saw anything as dreadful as Dame Kiri's outfit...and I remember some pretty awful clothing from the 80s.

[handelfan610]

pleeeeease i'm begging you...dont tell me she wore that to the royal wedding.

[olympicfreak678]

It was the 80's! Thank God I didn't live then! I think this was one of the biggest broadcasts EVER in television history, too!

[swanningaround]

Yes. She did wear it. Exciting isn't it. Adds a bit of color to the proceedings. Enjoy!

[dchizzo]

Well operaman, I don't think that particular outfit made the fashion trend. Looks like Big Bird and a flamingo had sex and that's what came out. That's not the only time she wore a "loud" dress.  But her voice is awesome and she's very talented. Best version I've heard.

[eddieman2004]

This is what i always remember about the royal wedding ... the best ever .... just magical...!! stunning!!!!

[garconfrancais01]

ive never been impressed by kiri...but this recording is gold i must admit.

[bullmoosebailey]

Excellent filmreel. An absolute highlight of one of the proudest and most culturally significant solemn events in the English speaking world, of our lifetime. When this number was sung, following the Communion, the entire planet was struck with the beauty, holiness & Imperial majesty of the day.

[piripzmum]

dude ur probably one of those cockheads that have no dress sense anyway hence the name fatbaldcunt and u just have to be as thick as pig shit too cockhead with no talent of ur own u have to trash someone with talent

[cptnunderwhere]

Your name says it all. LOL. Good job!

[richalan67]

Before you go ahead and more of an ass of yourself concerning Dame Kiri's musical ability, why don't you go and study for years, perform in the greatest opera houses/concert stages in the world. Maybe then your comment about "thick as pig shit" will be credible. Stop trying to sound like a master of music performance!!

[contratromba858]

Well, in all fairness, Dame Te Kanawa does not read music. However I don't think I'd use quite those vulgar terms.

[richalan67]

Dame Kiri does in fact read music. I have watched her biography and heard countless talk about her musical training.

[daniel01141975]

Not a trained singer are ya? There are musical subtleties particular to te Kanawa's voice that an untrained ear would not be able to decipher. No one with any knowledge of Bel Canto singing would make such an ignorant comment.

Actually Fleming and te Kanawa share some similar vocal qualities. Either of these singers Dove Sono could be considered the gold standard for the piece.

[nichtsleezy]

Not to mention Price and Moffo. I find that there are some similarities to these voices!!

[silvr94]

leontyne or margaret? I love both price-s as well as moffo!

[nichtsleezy]

Leontyne.

[musictodiefor]

It was definitely LIVE from London on television because I remember getting up at 4am to watch it. Believe me, I never noticed the dress until I saw pictures years later. Dame Kiri is awesome and she now dresses very nicely!

[cockneywench]

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is awesome!

[swanningaround]

The dress isn't so bad - at least compared to some of the dresses that Camilla wears.

[Dhbrydon]

swanningaround, that dress was horrible, in the worst possible taste, but that voice is wonderful

[cuddlebear51]

i agree with dhbrydon. you swanning around is the biggest fan of kiri that you don't see any flaws.

[cuddlebear51]

i was talking about the dress, the hat and dress color combinations.....

[Dhbrydon]

Sir David Wilcocks was my choir director at Cambridge many years ago, a wonderful musician. Kiris voice is magnificent BUT Oh that awful dress, a monument to bad taste.

[danieldaviesicq]

Dear Dh.,

Yes, you are right! magnificent and bad taste, the vt. is a record of how things were then; we can wonder what prior events made this dress for example seem like a good idea.

.

I wonder if any one else thought things were good or bad ideas at the time.

.

Probably not.

Cheers.

from,

del-boy.

[CashelWest]

The New Zealand press was estatic that Kiri was chosen to sing here, but she still got some gentle, good-natured ribbing for her choice of dress and hat. Even at the height of her fame and popularity she was not noted for dress sense; but in New Zealand this was seen as slightly endearing - like an eccentricity of genius - rather than a serious flaw. She is singer not a model, anyway.

[gerodiasr]

Oh my god! Princess Diana's wedding!!!!

i wasn't born yet around this time and if I was, live TV wasn't broadcasted around the world yet. I wish i had seen the wedding. Kiri was chosen to sing and this is one of her claim to fame!!!!!

[wing667]

her wedding on youtube the whole service

[hillevifan]

Man that must have been nerve-racking singing in front of all those people!! Well- Kiri is her usual great self...this is better than the studio recording she made!! It has so much more energy!

[BriCK24313]

I'm slightly confused right now. There are two different "live recordings" on youtube, of her singing this at the Royal Wedding 1981, however, this recording is about a half-step higher than the other...???

[damekirilover]

Well.....it's a version converted from and old LP, so the speed might not be so precise. Please show me another version. Thanks!

[emma41093]

@damekirilover I'm thinking it's probably due to tuning (Baroque is different from standard and concert - lower I think!!!)

[musictodiefor]

The dress was a bit wild, but as she later said she wanted to be seen, and OBVIOUSLY

she was, THANK GOD! I watched the wedding

that day but was more caught up in the thought

that it was the wrong couple being married...not knowing anything of him caring for someone else. Just was a bad feeling even though the wedding was beautiful. Sorry to find out later my feelings were right.

[PrincessNoddy]

on hehalf of new zealand we all offer our apologies for that travesty of an outfit the dame wore that day... it will be burnt in my consciousness for the rest of my days

[lifesavers234]

ROFL PrincessNoddy...

[bobbleheadedbudgie]

ROFLMAO oh dear . .. thanks for the apology--sorry for the collective sense of embarassment ;)

[wing667]

wasnt no.1 i just check and that wasn't it

[wing667]

actually what is the piece of music playing as they walk out the registar ?? the one before elgar

[damekirilover]

There were two Elgar's pieces (Pomp and Circumstance No.4 and 1) during the wedding. Which one do you mean? Choral or orchestral?

[wing667]

orchestral the one where there walking up the aisle before they play no.4

[damekirilover]

Fanfare(from the Whispering Gallery): "Rejoicing" by Major Antony Richards. I hope it answers your question........

[wing667]

thanks can u post that up please.. ive been looking for it for a long time.. i would be soo happy if u did.. love that u posted this wonderful piece of music

[wing667]

can u put the whole royal wedding up

[damekirilover]

I'm not interested in the wedding itself but Kiri's singing. Sorry!

[wing667]

why not since you have the lp.. alot of people would kill to here it.. myself included

[belcantokai]

Incredible! How did you find this precious version of KIKI? I love those beautiful pictures you added on this video.

Thanks!