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

But she has been up since 4am walking her new puppies around Cardiff. 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, the original diva. But then her puppies are Dame Kiri’s pride and joy and come everywhere with her — hotels, planes, and yes, Oxford.

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 UK and New Zealand homes, which she is increasingly immersed in.

“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. There is a lot of talent unable to find finance, with little mentoring or help.”

And yet she made it without much aid. “I didn’t have it when I started out but I had a lucky gap. 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 functions to put the word out, singing constantly.

“And we are now in a position to give out scholarships which I’m proud of, which is really, really exciting. My door is always open, particularly to anyone from New Zealand. 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, she’s such a pro, that no performance fazes her. “No, I don’t get nervous — I’m just too used to it,” she says.

Not even the Oxford gig? There’s an icy silence and the hairs stick up on the back of my neck. “It’s not a gig, that’s more of a rock concert don’t you think? A performance.” 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.”

Which begs a question about her age, which I daren’t broach. Luckily she pre-empts me. “And I am getting older, 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.

“And yet, although I do less opera and more performances, it’s always a pleasure. How can the gift I’ve been given be a bind? It has given me amazing contacts, and longevity.”

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