Concert
pure delight
"Pure" really is the most apt adjective for Christchurch
singer Hayley Westenra and her voice.
Only
16 years old and already launched on an international performing
and recording career, Westenra showed why her album Pure is
the biggest selling debut classical album worldwide in the
first of her New Zealand "The Pure Tour 2004" concerts
to a full house in Dunedin's Regent Theatre last night.
Her
singing was as polished and perfect as her CD but warm, alive
and engaging.
Like
a rainbow ribbon of silk, her voice flowed from one note to
the next, never straining or hesitating.
Unfortunately,
during the first half, the speakers could not always handle
her top notes, particularly during her duet with Dunedin opera
singer Brandon Pou, All I Ask of You .
A
confident and polished performer, Westenra showed remarkable
poise and lack of nerves, but her introductions between songs
were full of giggles, showing she remains a natural unspoilt
teenager.
In
a world full of singing teen sensations amping up their sex
appeal, it was refreshing to see a young woman being herself.
Westenra
was generous with the limelight, giving guest artists Pou
and singer/songwriter Hinewehi Mohi, her younger siblings
Sophie and Isaac, and even the band, all of whom had their
own sets throughout the show, a chance to shine unobstructed.
The
show finished with a Maori lullaby Hine E Hine , sung by all
the singers, and the rapturous applause started even before
the last bars were played.
The
enthusiastic Dunedin audience got value for money, demanding
three encores, including the spine-tingling Wuthering Heights
, which really ought to have been included in the main programme.
All
in all, it was a concert of pure delight.
A
review of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's "Musical
Muster" concert in the Glenroy Auditorium last night
will appear in tomorrow's Otago Daily Times .
View
Source (Under "local" heading)
Updated
:
August 6, 2004 0:49
Article
thanks to Andy (Hayley Westenra World). Not for reproduction
without prior permission
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