Concert Report by: Andrew FenningSituated in Dumfriesshire, Southern Scotland, Langholm lies 19 miles north of Carlisle on the main A7 between Carlisle and Edinburgh. Indeed it was a wonderful surprise to learn that Hayley would be performing in Scotland once again. No doubt many local residents and visitors to Langholm will have much to celebrate after having attended at least one of Hayley’s two scheduled concert performances within the recently refurbished Buccleuch Centre.
At approximately 7.30pm there was an announcement from the venue’s master of ceremonies via the P.A. system.
“Ladies and gentlemen we’re just waiting for the musicians to arrive… I hope the musicians heard that?” he joked. There was silence…
“Obviously not!” he remarked.
“Oh yes we did!” replied an enthused member of the audience, much to the amusement of the rest of the audience. There was another pause before the MC retorted:
“Oh no they didn’t!” and an eruption of laughter followed… This Scottish audience was clearly in very high spirits as we anticipated the arrival of Hayley and her musicians on stage.
“Oh I hear the patter of footsteps” the MC jested and somebody somewhere in the audience responded by shuffling and stamping their feet loudly.
“Oh no I didn’t!” the MC replied before all the hilarity drew to a close and he welcomed the audience to the evening event:
“Ladies and Gentlemen tonight we’re delighted to welcome Hayley Westenra. She’s one of the world’s most exciting singing sensations and with a wall full of platinum discs she’s sung duets with some of the world’s finest and appeared in venues like Sydney Opera House, Wembley Stadium, Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall, but the next two nights I can only imagine will be the highlight of her career… performing live here in the Buccleuch Centre in Langholm!” Another huge eruption of laughter emanated from the audience. The MC then proceeded to introduce Hayley onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please give a rousing welcome to Hayley Westenra and her musicians…” Enthusiastic applause followed as Fiona, Misha and Ian entered onto the stage, followed closely by Hayley- dressed in an elegant dark green dress with very sparkley silver high-heeled, open-toed pumps. Once the applause had dwindled to complete silence, Hayley opened her evening’s performance with a very wistful rendition of:
Pokarekare Ana[/b]. Her vocals resonated so clearly as they soared high with a beautiful, rich vibrato. Despite the opening bars to this piece being “oh so familiar” to me, I could still feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up! Ian set the tempo for the piece with gentle accompaniment on the piano, and the addition of Misha’s classical guitar playing really gave the piece some character. Misha stole a moment of glory on the stage with his classical guitar solo which was outstanding! Fiona’s violin tones were warm, mellow and velvety and they complemented Hayley’s higher soprano vocal line perfectly. Rapturous applause followed as Hayley thanked the audience and then she subtley removed the cellophane from the top of a bottle of mineral water. Hayley greeted the audience and explained how wonderful it felt for her to be in Scotland. She commented that she had been to Scotland a number of times before, but mostly to Edinburgh and Glasgow. She then entertained us with a very amusing story about one of her experiences during a recent trip to Dalwhinney in the Highlands. She told us that quite often opportunities arise for her to visit lots of amazing places for her work but unfortunately she doesn’t always have the time to explore the surrounding area. She explained:
“I was out there for two days and it was incredible I couldn’t get enough of the fresh air and then I came across a Highland cow – face to face with one... and I wasn’t quite sure what to do! I just stood there and said ‘Please don’t run at me!’. It was quite intimidating!” (followed by a very bubbly giggle!)
The audience adored Hayley’s story and responded with sympathetic laughter. Hayley announced that she would be performing in Langholm for two consecutive nights and that she would be spending the following day (Friday) exploring areas in and around Langholm. She then introduced her band to us:
“This is Fiona Pears on violin, all the way from Christchurch, my home town in New Zealand, this is Misha Marks, also from Christchurch New Zealand and on piano all the way from London, this is Ian Tilley.” The audience greeted the musicians with applause before Hayley introduced her next piece to us, explaining that her Nanna had given her the sheet music to the song when she was quite young. Hayley remarked that her Nanna was a singer herself in her day and that she also used to sing the piece too. She explained:
“I put the sheet music on top of the piano and didn’t look at it until just a few years ago when I came across it and just fell in love with it. Hope you like it.” A very reflective and prayerful rendition of
Ave Maria (Caccini) followed. The audience were completely lulled into a hush by Hayley’s exceptional delivery of this piece. Hayley acknowledged the audience’s appreciation and took a sip of water before introducing,
Scarborough Fair to us as a traditional song, which would probably be familiar to us as one made famous by
Simon & Garfunkell. I recall that later during the interval I had a discussion with a random member of the audience about Hayley’s excellent cover version of
Scarborough Fair. The gentleman concerned told me how much he had enjoyed the music of
Simon & Garfunkell during the 1960’s and how refreshing it had been for him to hear Hayley’s beautiful rendition of this classic song! His eyes were all a glow... Hayley thanked the audience and then told us that she’d like to leave the stage to a very talented violinist- Fiona Pears. The audience greeted Fiona with loud applause. Fiona opened with
Tangissimo, a very rhythmic piece which conveyed all the romance and drama of the tango dance! The piece was very vigorous and interspersed with lots of exciting bowing - short "bouncy" bows and longer whole bows– one couldn’t help tapping one’s foot! Fiona had kicked off her shoes and she really moved around on the stage! Her stage presence was excellent- Wow... what an entertainer! She thanked the audience and we could see that there were a few hairs/ threads hanging loose from her violin bow.
“Have you got any horses around here?” she joked. Then Fiona opened her heart to the audience as she explained:
“It is so wonderful to be here. I have never been to this part of Scotland and it’s kind of funny- I feel more at home in Scotland than I do in London. My brother married a beautiful Scottish girl and my grandfather was born in Edinburgh and of course my name’s Fiona so I’m slightly Scottish!” Fiona proceeded to share a lovely story with us about the next song which she was going to play to us. She told us that she first came over to this part of the world about 4 years ago on a backpacking trip:
“I put on a big purple backpack and my violin and I took off. The first place I flew into was Amsterdam…. Very very interesting!” she joked. “I come from NZ and I hadn’t been any further than Australia and all of a sudden it’s all wow… but I found myself in Ireland as well and I fell in love with Ireland and I travelled all the coast of Ireland – which I call the “glamour backpacker way” – yeah I hired a car!” The audience burst into laughter once more at this point.
Fiona continued to unfold her story to us, telling us about her travels all round the coast of Ireland and right up to the top of the west coast, to a little place called Glencolumkille. There she met a wonderful couple, whose names were Martin and Mary. Mary who was probably in her late 60’s or early 70’s ran a backpackers hostel and had more energy than any 20 year old who Fiona knew-
“apart from Hayley!” she exclaimed. Fiona told us how well Martin knew the hills and how much he loved to take her out for trips. She mentioned that there was a little village with a gorgeous pub, where she would play her violin all night together with a local guitarist. The pub lights would be turned off at closing time- at about 11 O’Clock when the police would go by and everyone would hide behind the bar until the police had gone by. Once the police had passed, everyone continued as normal! She asked us if the same thing happened in Scotland as well? The audience burst into laughter again. Fiona introduced her next piece,
Memories of Martin and Mary to us as a dedication to Martin and Mary, explaining that she had recorded it on her 2nd and 3rd CDs, although each version was quite different. She played us the shorter version which is the one without the Northumberland bagpipes! The opening bars to this celtic/ folk tune were slow, smooth and melancholy. As the tune progressed the tempo increased dramatically! It really speeded up and Fiona’s playing became more vigorous. Fiona played with great bursts of enthusiasm and cried out
“Yeah!” as she really gave the piece great gusto and she beat the rhythm out with her feet. Fiona moved around the stage to Misha’s short fast guitar strumming and really stole our attention here. What a crowd pleaser! The audience could really
feel the music as we clapped out the rhythm to the off-beat!
Hayley returned to the stage and thanked Fiona for her outstanding performance and acknowledged her remarkable talent, before she explained to us that Handel’s
Lascia Ch’io Pianga[/i] translates to, “let me weep at my cruel fate” and she jested that the song was an appropriate choice for the imminent Rugby Match of Scotland v NZ 3 days later. The audience laughed and then winced at the thought of being downtrodden by the fearsome “All Blacks”! Hayley giggled and teased us a little more before revealing that she would unfortunately be unable to sing the National Anthem this time, or for any of the other World Cup Rugby Matches.
“They’ve banned all anthem singers!”, she sighed.
“I know that spoils the fun a bit but oh well. Anyway I hope you gain some pleasure from this next piece… and some comfort perhaps!", she whispered, before giggling at our expense again!
Lascia Ch’io Pianga flowed beautifully… I always love Hayley’s very effective use of legato. When she sings she gets the notes to flow smoothly together through articulated phrases. This really is absolutely stunning to hear! A particularly fine example of her wonderful use of legato was prominent during the last verse of
Lascia Ch’io Pianga. Hayley then introduced
Prayer to us as a piece based on the story of Hansel and Gretal.
“It will probably transport you back to your happy childhood” she said. She explained that the song was based on the part of the story where Hansel and Gretal are lost in the woods and they’re asking the angels to watch over them and look after them through the night. Fiona’s gentle violin accompaniment sounded very atmospheric and echo-like, similar to the sound of a chilling night wind. Ian's piano playing flowed with arpeggios behind Hayley’s melodic vocals. The musicians worked together to achieve the flow… and “floating” sound of the piece. Hayley thanked the audience and then remarked about the NZ themed motif designs on the canvas screening at either side of the stage.
”It’s beautiful, thanks for making us feel so welcome!” she said. Hayley briefly told us about her Nanna and Grandad who were very talented musicians:
“My Grandad was very talented too. He could almost play any instrument by ear and he always had his piano accordion in his boot on Sunday drives… ‘just in case’ the opportunity arose – ‘just in case’- but they always did! This is a song which my Nanna used to sing, so I hold it very close to my heart.”The most emotionally moving rendition of
Danny Boy which I have ever heard followed. Throughout this piece Hayley really captured our attention with her poise and stage presence. During the first verse Hayley was accompanied by Ian’s piano playing which was as gentle as a whisper. Hayley really pulled at our heartstrings with her smooth vocals as she sang the song to a slow tempo. Every word of the song seemed to be charged somehow- Quite beautiful! Ian’s piano playing was more prominent during the second verse and there was also the addition of Fiona’s smooth vibrato. The crescendi of the piece really built up to a climax from there, right up to Hayley’s first vocal line of:
“I shall sleep in peace until you come to me”… I was amazed at how a slow and gentle tune like this could be used to achieve a real impact. This was powerful stuff! There couldn’t have been a dry eye in the house after that! Hayley’s delivery was so expressive. She really gave her heart to us! An interval followed until the second half of the concert commenced at 9pm.
Fiona opened up the second half of the Concert performance with three pieces. Her first piece was
Turkish Fantasy which features on her
Doorways To Distant Lands CD. She explained her inspiration for writing the piece as she described a trip to Turkey and the excitement she had experienced whilst diving off a three storey high cliff into the sea. Fiona has some very exciting stories to tell us all and she seems to thrive on adrenaline! Her second piece was a rendition of
Ennio Morricone’s Theme from Cinema Paradiso which she explained she had never heard played on a violin before, so she thought she would change that! It was a very haunting melody. She also told us that reflecting on this particular piece made her feel quite emotional and it reminded her of her parents back home in Christchurch, NZ. Fiona’s third piece was a Hebrew folk song entitled:
Hava Nagila which means "Let us rejoice." She conveyed the celebration element of the piece throughout with her very expressive playing... most impressive Fiona! Hayley returned to the stage dressed in her very beautiful bright green "beaded" dress with her silver open-toed, high-heeled pumps. She commented,
“Isn’t she fantastic?”… “Yes!” the audience replied and Hayley asked Fiona how long they had been touring together for. Fiona replied that they had been touring for three and a half years. Hayley remarked:
“I’m very lucky! Unfortunately she’s off doing solo things now… but I’ll keep her with me as long as I can!” Hayley introduced her first song of the second half of the Concert to us as one from one of her favourite movies-
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy. She explained that the song she was about to sing was from the first film in the Trilogy. She also mentioned that she personally regarded the piece as a NZ song, since
The Lord of The Rings was filmed in NZ. Hayley told us that the piece conjured up lots of beautiful images of her homeland to her. She could picture the lakes, the snow capped mountains, the rivers and the Canterbury plains. Just as she was starting to feel a little homesick again, she was very excited to be able to tell us that she was going home soon for a 2 week holiday- and how her younger brother Isaac and sister Sophie were probably missing her. Hayley painted some beautiful pictures in our minds with
May It Be and then introduced her next piece to us:
“This next song has over 100 verses… The doors are locked… I’m just kidding there are only 97! This is one of my new songs which I recorded for my latest Album, 'Treasure'. It’s an American folk song which originated as a river shanty but became popular with sea-going crews around the early 1800’s. It was passed down the river from boat to boat, hence the number of verses that have accumulated over about 100 years. This is, Shenandoah..." Unfortunately Hayley only sang 4 of the 97 verses though!
It was lovely to hear a selection of songs from each of Hayley’s Albums during this Concert. For me this was my first opportunity to hear Hayley performing material from her latest
Treasure Album live, so
Shenandoah was my first
real piece of
Treasure!!! I won’t ever forget that particular rendition either - Wow Hayley! She followed this piece up with something a bit more up tempo, in the form of - yes... you've guessed it...
Summer Fly which was thrilling to witness as the musicians performed it - they were loving every moment of it... This was so apparent for all to see by the smiling faces up there on stage! The piece gelled and really flowed with a steady, even rhythm. The audience
adored it!
Fiona and Misha then took a moment to check that their instruments were in tune and Hayley amused us whilst they did so. She remarked:
“Once one starts… you can’t stop them!” We were then treated to a beautiful rendition of the traditional song,
The Water Is Wide. I particularly enjoy watching Hayley singing the third verse of this song where the lyrics are:
“The ship there is and she sails the sea…” She really emphsises these lyrics very effectively with an outstretched hand as though she is literally viewing a vast ship on the sea, right before her! I really love this– it is a brilliant effect! Hayley thanked the audience and explained the story behind her next piece to us. She told us about the area of
Santa Lucia in Italy and the lyrics are in fact the words of a boatman, as he describes the beautiful night and the ships bobbing up and down on the water. He’s saying to the people passing by him:
“Come into my boat and I’ll show you Santa Lucia from the water... it’s much more beautiful”. Hayley’s delivery of this song was fantastic. It was a joy to watch her perform this live for the first time. I did see her performance of this song on television once before- but seeing her perfom it live in Concert was so much better! She took the song and really made it hers! Once again Misha had a moment of glory on the stage with a perfectly executed guitar solo! Hayley introduced Misha Marks to us after the song, as the “newbie” in the band. She remarked that they were very lucky to have him with them too. Hayley then directed our attention over to Ian Tilley - her musical director and pianist and announced that she was going to perform a piece from her
‘Pure’ Album. She briefly explained the origin of
In Trutina which dates back to the 13th century from a number of poems which had been written at that time.The poems were left in a monastery and were later discovered in the 18th century. The composer Carl Orff, took the lyrics and set them to music. Some of lyrics were in fact deemed to be somewhat controversial at the time when they were written, in the 12th /13th century. We were then treated to a stunning rendition of
In Trutina from
Carmina Burana. It was excellent to hear a little history about the piece before Hayley performed it! I was very impressed by Hayley and Fiona's discussions with the audience during this Concert. They've always been keen to connect with their audiences and have always been good at chatting to us in between pieces, but tonight they really shared so much with us- hilarious stories to amuse us, as well as informative matters such as the brief history behind particular pieces of music. I've never seen them make so much effort during any other concert! It worked
really well!
Hayley introduced her final song of the evening as another NZ song- a Maori lullaby. She mentioned that back in NZ a number of years ago, this tune used to be played as the TV channels ended their transmission for the evening. On the screen a little cartoon kiwi bird would climb onto the roof top and tuck itself into bed in a satellite dish.
"It was a signal that it was time for all of us to go to bed!" she laughed. The audience sounded very enchanted at this point and lots of “Awws…” echoed around the Hall. Hayley performed a very beautiful, soporific
Hine e Hine. We were all sweetly lulled into a hush again! After the piece drew to a close Hayley remarked:
“Thank you so much, you’ve been a wonderful audience...” The audience cheered loudly, together with rapturous applause and loud cries of “MORE!”… Hayley returned to the stage for an encore in the form of
Amazing Grace. She explained that she had once performed the piece with the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipers and Drummers. Her delivery was breath-taking! There was “pin drop silence” all around as Hayley opened the piece to Ian’s soft piano accompaniment. I felt quite speechless afterwards. This audience witnessed Hayley pouring her whole heart and soul into her performance tonight. Simply stupendous!
"Haste Ye Back Hayley!"
What strikes me most is that you have managed to recall the exact words Hayley speaks as she introduces a song. Like Grant, reading through your report, I know which song is next from the first few words Hayley speaks. In capturing her words, you have given those members who haven't seen Hayley in concert recently, or indeed at all, such a sense of being there with you - quite unique. 
