UK Television
"MY FAVOURITE HYMNS"
ITV 7th March 2004

REVIEW

It came as a great surprise to see Hayley on television this morning as I am not aware that her name had appeared in any of the television schedules and it was only by chance that I saw it at all.

“My Favourite Hymns” is presented by John Stapleton. In today’s programme, he interviewed Tsakane Valentine and Geoff Sewell from the opera band Amici Forever. For those of you who have never seen it, the idea is that guests speak about their lives and careers and, in doing so, nominate their favourite hymns which are then shown. The format was very informal and made very pleasant viewing (yes, I am an admirer of Amici Forever).

A few minutes into the programme it became clear that, despite it being March, we were about to be treated to a rendition of “Silent Night”. What wasn’t mentioned, however, was the name of the artist who would be performing it. Here, then, was the surprise. Suddenly Hayley was on the screen and her amazing voice filled the room. Admittedly it was merely an excerpt from the Christmas Eve concert from Manchester Cathedral but it was nice to see it being broadcast again.

A few minutes of further discussion followed until they cut to a shot inside an unnamed cathedral which looked like Manchester (which is where this programme is made) for a performance of “Amazing Grace” and we saw Hayley again.

The cathedral was an array of floral decorations and lighted candles. The latter were used to dramatic effect when a long shot of Hayley was seen between them. The camera then slowly zoomed in on her until the candles, now enlarged on either side of the screen, were greatly out of focus, creating a frame of golden light for the close-up image of Hayley.

Throughout this song, we never saw anyone other than Hayley and you could imagine her being alone in the cathedral except for the accompaniment from the organ. The simple arrangement enabled the listener to concentrate exclusively on Hayley’s voice which, as ever, was a joy to hear. Every note was crystal clear and every word perfectly pronounced. Her tonal quality, expression and voice control with minimal but perfect vibrato was sublime.

Roger Mansbridge

07/03/2004