When I'm alone at home, I really prefer to listen to Wagner's orchestral music rather than any vocal music. I find it illuminating not to have to pay attention to voices in the recordings.

It is said this would be the end of her operatic career but obviously this is not certain. The semi-finalists were accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates Richard Balcombe and Roderick Dunk and their performances were judged by Te Kanawa Anne Howells Robin Stapleton and director John Cox. In 2012 Te Kanawa was awarded a World Class New Zealand award in the Iconic New Zealander category.

The Kiri Te Kanawaer beauty of Te Kanawa's voice made her one of the leading operatic sopranos internationally of the 1970s and 1980s. Her voice has been described as "mellow yet vibrant warm ample and unforced". She is particularly associated with the works of Mozart Strauss Verdi Handel and Puccini.