First lady of opera, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa talks to KATHERINE MACALISTER as she gets ready to head to Oxford to sing with the BBC Concert Orchestra for the Jubilee.

It is early when I speak to Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, breakfast time actually.

But as she’s been up since 4am walking her new puppies around Cardiff, it’s almost midday by her standards.

Imagine that, the world’s most famous opera singer just wandering around the city centre minding her own business. “People don’t look at you, they just go straight for the dog,” she smiles, “so I never get spotted.”

Hardly the behaviour of one of the most famous singers on the planet.

But then her beloved animals are Dame Kiri’s pride and joy and come everywhere with her – hotels, planes, and yes, they’ll be coming to Oxford. “Wherever I go they go,” she adds unnecessarily.

But then no one messes with a Dame whose CV reads like a history of world celebrations.

From singing at Charles and Di’s wedding to the Rugby World Cup and everything in between, next up is a concert in Washington for Obama and then back for the BBC Concert Orchestra’s Jubilee Concert in Oxford.

When not performing, Dame Kiri is teaching, or running her charity the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation from her homes in New Zealand and the UK, something she is becoming increasingly immersed in.

Which means that however much she wants to reduce her work schedule she can’t.

“I do as much teaching as I can and I just have to plan my time and my diary well,” she explains. “And I don’t like the word ‘giving back’ because it sounds like it’s all about me rather than teaching people to give. And it’s not about me.

“But having enjoyed a career like this I think I should help the next generation, because there is a lot of talent out there, unable to find finance, with little mentoring or help available to them.”

And yet she made it without much aid. “I didn’t have it when I started out but I had a lucky gap when everything seemed to work. So I thought they should have something, but not too much – we don’t want to mollycoddle them,” she smiles.

“So I have a foundation and do concerts and private functions to put the word out by singing constantly, to make everyone aware that these young people need help.

“And we are now in a position to give out scholarships which I’m very proud of, which is really, really exciting. So my door is always open, particularly to anyone from New Zealand because I must at least do that.”

Yes, New Zealand’s most famous export is as driven as ever. But in terms of her own singing, although she still enjoys it immensely, she’s such a pro, that no performance fazes her. “No, I don’t get nervous anymore – I’m just too used to it,” she says.

Not even the Oxford gig?

And then there’s an icy silence and the hairs stick up on the back of my neck in fear.

“It’s not a gig, that’s more of a rock concert don’t you think? It’s more of a performance,” she says quite rightly.

And firmly put back in my place she continues: “So for my Oxford performance I’ll just work through the music that week.”

There is a certain pressure then to maintain her public persona?

“Yes, to a certain extent – I have to keep up the tempo to keep my profile out there but not as much as I used to. I’m still booked up but don’t do things as far ahead because I like to take a day off now and again,” she admits.

“But on the other hand I need to keep working because it’s important for the foundation.”

Which begs a question about her age, which I daren’t quite broach, until luckily she pre-empts me. “And I am getting older,” Dame Kiri adds graciously, “that’s the downside – you have to do less and act like an athlete – it’s important to keep running because if you stop you have to start training all over again.

“So I sing everyday – you have to.

“And yet, although I do less opera and more performances these days, I never feel obliged. It’s always a pleasure,” she says firmly, before continuing: “How can the gift I’ve been given be a bind? It has given me amazing contacts, and longevity. And there’s nothing to dislike in our business, so I’m very lucky, everyone is charming.”

And then she laughs as she stares out of the window at the pouring Welsh rain and says. “But it is funny being back. I love the hosepipe ban – you have to see it to believe it.”

* Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will appear with the BBC Concert Orchestra at Christ Church as part of the Jubilee Concerts 2012 programme on Friday, June 22. Call the box office on 01865 305305.