09 July 2008 (gig)
15 July 2008
Hayley Westenra has covered considerable ground in her short career as a soprano. In a matter of five years and in an era of downloading her album Pure shifted two million copies worldwide in just a couple of weeks rendering it the fastest selling international classical debut album. It is also the best selling album achieved by any New Zealander.
A child prodigy Hayley Westenra has over the past few years delivered wonderful renditions of songs from so many various genres and has also won over a sceptical musical industry. This poised young woman may still look demure at 24 but she is also highly determined and headstrong. Westenra, who hails from Christchurch, New Zealand is a seasoned media person, as well as a seasoned soprano. She was signed with Universal New Zealand when she was just 13. The thing is that Hayley has practically breezed through her career, now approaching its 15th year. She always dreamt to do what she is doing now however, she never pushed herself too far either. “"I just thought it would be cool to have a memento of my voice," Westenra recalled in an interview she gave to the UK Independent back in 2004. "Then one thing just led to another. We [she and her younger sister Sophie] would be busking, and people would ask if I had any recordings. So we would take their details, and Mum would make little cardboard covers for the CDs, but it just wasn't economic to keep doing these one-offs. So we got 1,000 copies made with the help of a family friend and eventually they got sent round to some record companies." She has however worked hard to be where she is now, having made her first professional recording when she was 12. It was a demo of Walking In The Air, a song which Aled Jones released a couple of years before she was actually born.
It will be really interesting to see what Westenra has to offer tomorrow when she performs together with Joseph Calleja and Lucio Dalla. Her repertoire already very sizeable for her age includes Odyssey which mixes classical, pop , Celtic, and New Age music. This album also featured a few original compositions by the artiste herself. Her forays with Celtic Woamn on their second, big-selling album entitled Celtic Woman: A New Journey is also quite interesting. Here she manages to recall old Celtic songs in a manner of her own, notwithstanding the fact that this genre has been exposed to so many talents and interpretations. Hayley’s voice stands out as the winning factor here.
On Treasure Westenra took control of everything. She co-wrote four of the 15 songs featured, and ensured a near-perfect production for her pitch-perfect voice. She also made known her intentions on the album sleeve of the UK edition. She wrote "I come from a musical family, and one with a real sense of history. My forefathers were on the maiden voyage from Ireland to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1850 – there's even a commemoration plaque in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, which bears the name Westenra. My grandmother used to sit me on her knee and sing songs like Danny Boy from as early as I can remember. A singer herself in her earlier years, she has always been a never-ending source of songs. It's this legacy of music that she's been passing down to me since my childhood, and it's many of these beautiful old songs that I've explored here on my album." Indeed there is so much to fathom in her version of the classic hymn Abide With Me and Danny Boy.
Perhaps her most intriguing album is her collection of Japanese songs, entitled Hayley Sings Japanese Songs. The songs include popular Japanese songs sung in English, and some in Japanese. Amazing Grace is performed as a duet with the late Minako Honda, in English and Japanese. On this album and subsequently, its sequel, Hayley shows her ability in not just singing in a language which may seem so difficult to understand, let alone interpret but also manages to understand the culture of a nation that has inspired so many classical works, notably Madame Butterfly.
Paradiso, her latest album is bound to feature prominently over the next few months. It features compositions from Enio Morricone, (with whom she has also collaborated in recent years), Josephine Drai, and even a Joan Baez song entitled Here’s To You. Hayley has also, understandably, been much involved in raising funds for her hometown of Christchurch following the devastating earthquake that this city has experienced last February. Besides, a performance in her native town she has time and again mentioned her beloved Christchurch in her recent performances, and will again travel to New Zealand to raise funds in a charity concert at Auckland.
