Silence is golden

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the celebrated opera star, has announced that she will never sing in public again, bringing to a close a career that has spanned five decades and garnered her a host of accolades. Dame Kiri, 73, said that she came to the decision last year, and revealed a performance in Melbourne last October was in fact her last. “I don’t want to hear my voice,” the soprano told the BBC’S Today

programme.