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Dame Kiri Te Kanawa stars in Sealord Opera in the Park – Nelson

Posted February 19th, 2008 by peter

What a privilege it was on Saturday night to attend Sealords Opera in the Park. I must admit that it was the first of this yearly event that I have personally attended, but for me this fantastic event made up for all the past 9 that I had not gone to.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was undoubtedly the star of the show, and it was really obvious that she really enjoyed herself. Together with tenor Simon O’Neill, bass Jonathan Lemalu, and mezzo Helen Medlyn, all being backed by the Vector Wellington Orchestra and conducted by Marc Taddei the show was wonderful, even for someone like me that not too much into opera.

Nelsons Sealord Opera in the Park talent also included an ensemble of singers from Opera Factory from Auckland, who Dame Kiri bought with her for the show.

For those of us who arrived around 5pm, the pre show performers were really entertaining, and the crowd just seem to love everything that was going on.

Trafalgar Park really was buzzing. The casualness of it all, with most of the audience bringing chairs, sipped on a glass of wine, and enjoyed the food they bought with them – was really a huge picnic. The majority of them were probably 40+, but even my partners grandchildren aged 3 and 5 knew some of the songs. “That song is in “Little Einsteins” Grandma !!!. ”

Here is a few photos we took – if you were there, we know you had a really good time. If not, weep !!

Heres a link to the Nelson City Council story

Small crowd just after getting in at 5pm

Big TV compliments the stage – we were about 200 m away

Crowd has got much bigger just before the main event

Awesome

Rumor has it that Dame Kiri stayed here while in Nelson

Tags: Kiri Te Kanawa, nelson, opera in the park, Sealord