Conductor getting into the swim

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ROTORUA - English conductor Robin Stapleton has had little time to relax since arriving in New Zealand to prepare for Rotorua's A Knight With A Dame millennium lakeside concert.

But the conductor plans to make sure he gets a swim or two in Rotorua's geothermal waters before heading back to London soon after the concert next Saturday.

International diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Rotorua's evergreen and irrepressible Sir Howard Morrison will star in the in concert together, with Stapleton leading the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Over the past 30 years he has performed alongside many of the world's great opera stars, including Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Monserat Caballe, Katine Ricciatelli, Grace Bumbry, Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri.

Stapleton said it was a challenge bringing together such a concert and two such diverse performers.

"It's a unique event because it brings together two artists working in two different fields and also presents a great variety of music."

The programme for A Knight With a Dame would range from opera to popular ballads to orchestral numbers. - NZPA