Review
02 - By Brian Harmer - 1st September
2001
____________________________________________
Mary
and I went into town on Tuesday evening
to a concert starring the young soprano,
Hayley Westenra in the Michael Fowler
Centre.
It was one of those moody nights with reasonably
clear weather in the Hutt Valley and something
dense and
grey obscuring the city from view. The
skyline to the West where the remnants
of the sunset should have clear that a
cloudburst was occurring. Even from a close
as the Ngauranga Gorge it was not possible
to seeany trace of anything other than
the brightest lights on the water's side.
Suddenly it started raining. Since I had
been driving towards it for the last ten
minutes this ought not to have been a surprise.
Wham! From drywindscreen to the need for
the high speed wiper setting in less than
three seconds! However, we soon emerged
on the other side, and found ourselves
in the prowling process of look for a park
near the Michael Fowler Centre.
Considering that the star of the show is
a mere 14 years old, she may have felt
intimidated by an audience which seemed
to contain very few under-fifties. Since
our decision to go was very much at the
last minute, we were near the back in a
very full house. In front of us was a vast
sea of predominantly grey hair, which,now
that I think of it, was nicely offset against
the lovely warm timber of the hall. Now
I have neither the competence nor the intention
to offer a concert review, yet I can't
avoid passing a few comments. For those
who have never heard of her, Hayley is
a young Christchurch girl who is attracting
favourable comparisons with the British
soprano, Charlotte Church.
I
don't mean to "spam" you, but
I commend to your attention the site
which advertises her CD, which was the
third top seller in NZ this week according
to:
RIANZ: http://netcd.co.nz/cgi-bin/netCD/Recordings.cgi?61781 
There
are a few samples on the site, so if you
are willing to download them, you can hear
Hayley's voice. Considering this is a 14
year old with no serious training, imagine
how she will sound as her voice matures,
and perhaps is formally trained. Patrick
Shepherd reviewed the album in today's
Press: "Hayley Westenra has an undoubted
talent, a crystal, pure voice which promises
much. For any singer, this is a most accomplished
album. For a 14-year-old, it is remarkable.
Her voice has an ethereal quality in the
live recording of Amazing Grace, which
is both very moving and, to be honest,
more satisfying than some of the bigger
production numbers." I had been reluctant
to go to the concert because there were
so many supporting artists I had never
heard of including two male singers and
a violinist, a guitarist, and a choir.
The two male singers were Shaun Dixon and
Tim Beveridge. The violinist, also a mere
14 years, was Ben Morrison. And unadvertised,
Hayley's younger sister Sophie, 11 and her
brother Isaac who is 8, also creditably accompanied
her for a few numbers. What an amazing family.
The programme was skilfully selected for
the audience, with lyric pieces for almost
everyone. Among the many pieces sung by the
two men was the duet "Au fond du temple
sant" from Bizet's the Pearl Fishers.
They made the hair stand up on the back of
my neck. But as I said, I am no reviewer.
I am just so delighted to have heard such
a marvellous pool of genuine young New Zealand
talent.
~
Brian Harmer ~
