By James C. Taylor [LA Times, 14 June 2009]

Reporting from New York — In her four decades of performing on the international stage, Kiri Te Kanawa has appeared to live a fairy-tale existence. Adopted as an infant, Te Kanawa enjoyed a modest New Zealand youth until the age of 19 when she placed second in that country’s most important singing contest: the Mobil Song Quest. Suddenly she was a popular recording star, recording the small country’s first gold album.