|
|
Post by I-H-F on Dec 22, 2008 0:06:39 GMT
She seems to make lots of fabulous music that most people for some unaccountable reason are not allowed to hear. This is a long standing gripe of mine, and is I understand from Hayley herself, down to her record company and outside of Hayley's control. Yes, I agree. One song in particular that I would like to have on CD is The Mummer's Dance. I don't understand why it was only released in certain countries. I'll just have to be satisfied with the youtube version for now. |
|
|
|
Post by Libby on Dec 22, 2008 5:43:01 GMT
I was one of Hayley's critics saying that she conveyed zero emotion. To a certain extent, I still believe this, but hearing her on recording and hearing her live are two very different experiences. I can hear it clear as day when I see her live, but she comes across as bland and bored in recordings. There is only one song on there that I didn't have so I don't really have anything to say about it. It just makes me wish she was in the UK and that I could go and see her as soon as possible. Umm, she was just there, for months.  You were only missing 1 song? I'm pretty sure all of us were missing 4, at the very least, and many are still missing one, Majesty. What other CD are Songbird, Now is the Hour, and the new recording of Ave Maria on?  I disagree that she conveys zero emotion in her singing, and it is never bland or boring!   Her voice is so beautiful, how could you call it bland? I've always preferred pretty, soprano voices, as opposed to rich, lower voices, which seem to be so popular and overdone these days (I do like Celine's voice, though).To me, Hayley has the most perfect "pretty, soprano" voice I've ever heard, and she sings some of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard! What more could I ask for? I don't listen to songs just to hear emotion. I do get emotion out of her songs. Her perfectly beautiful, pure voice, the accompanying music, and/or the lyrics cause me to feel emotional. That's good enough for me! However, there are songs in which I do hear emotion in her voice, particularly Songbird, You Are Water, and Sonny, but also Let Me Lie, Shenandoah, and Danny Boy. So nobody can tell me she never conveys emotion in her songs. I also happen to think that when someone is recording a song, they have to concentrate on singing as flawlessly as they can, and it might be hard to be flawless and very emotional at the same time. I think it depends on the song they're singing, too, whether it makes them feel emotional. |
|
|
|
Post by larryhauck on Dec 22, 2008 21:23:57 GMT
Anyone who can't hear emotion in Hayley's voice must have different ears than I have. Also if you see Hayley in concert the emotion comes through on her face beautifully.
Larry
|
|
|
|
Post by larryhauck on Dec 22, 2008 21:30:53 GMT
Mummers Dance is available on a special edition of Celtic Treasure as a bonus track. It can be purchased at walmart.com
in the U S . I think they ship anywhere. If they don't ship to your country I'd be glad to get it for you and send it over.
Larry
|
|
|
|
Post by Cherany on Jan 4, 2009 14:28:22 GMT
... if others can get away with promoting overtly atheist songs, why can t Hayley sing Christian ones? The Devil does not necessarily have all the best tunes, but he does seem to have all the best promotion!  Well, you gave me a laugh, and for the record, I'm an atheist. I really can't believe how worked up some people are over Majesty. I've not even heard it & can already tell you that I wouldn't find it objectionable. I sing along to Amazing Grace & other such songs without worrying over the lyrics, just as I sing along to fun Christmas songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," without getting all worked up about how I don't believe in Santa Claus. If I were up there on stage, then certainly no, I wouldn't sing anything like Amazing Grace or Majesty. But as a listener, I see no reason why I shouldn't enjoy all of Hayley's music, religious or not. |
|
|
|
Post by Tin on Jan 4, 2009 15:21:47 GMT
While I was hanging around in the Internet just now I went to the HMV Hong Kong website and made a search on Hayley (which I occasionally do to check how updated my local HMV is). And I found this album which wasn't there a few days ago: www.hmv.com.hk/product/classical.asp?sku=284440A version of River of Dreams which will be released on 9th January and sold at a much lower price. My wonder is, isn't RoD supposed to be an UK (& NZ) release? How is it possible that Decca Hong Kong can release a version on its own?  By the way, I'd like to say 'happy new year' to every member here.  Tin |
|
|
|
Post by martindn on Jan 4, 2009 23:36:23 GMT
As for Majesty, Hayley's version is very beautiful. We are talking about a recording here, not the merits or otherwise of that song as a hymn. Hayley has a way of making just about any song beautiful. She is an exceptional talent, and it demeans her to suggest that she is not.
She works hard, and puts pressure on herself perhaps, and we understand and support her when she cannot do what she had planned, for example because of her recent illness. I have not seen a single post here that has criticised her because of that, and I hope I never do.
Perhaps Hayley suffers from the delusion of many young people that they are indestructible, and pushes herself too hard. Some of us have expressed concern about that. None of that is as a result of pressure from HWI.
Martin
|
|
|
|
Post by Cherany on Jan 5, 2009 2:59:30 GMT
I wouldn't want anyone to assume all non-Christians will hate this song based on some nasty comments from others, especially since I'm an atheist myself. I'm sure Majesty is a lovely song, because Hayley has a lovely voice. She could sing Old McDonald Had a Farm, and I'd still find it beautiful!
Josh is my second-favorite singer, right behind Hayley. Of course the thought of a duet excites me on the surface, but I'm not sure it's where she wants to go, so I'm not going to base my opinion on the things she does on how they might affect such a possibility.
As far as I know, a duet with Josh Groban is not something Hayley is actively working towards. (Someone correct me if there is proof this is something she's after.)
|
|
|
|
Post by postscript on Jan 6, 2009 13:08:09 GMT
Hi Everyone.
Well, at last I am here. The other day I had a need to go to London, so trotted into HMV in Oxford Street and was disappointed to find a shelf full of RoD but on finding Katherine Jenkins had an equally large shelf-full I decided that was a good omen. 'Spur of the moment' purchasers were well catered for.
I had forgotten that 'Now is the Hour' was on it. This took me by storm when she first sang it live (Stoke?) and I wanted a recording. Like someone else who posted recently, not necessarily here, I would also like a recording of 'The Mummers' Dance'.
I left matters until the next day before encountering my usual fight with cellophane wrappers that never seem to unpeel as easily as they should. Always, it seems, they leave the smallest, tightest piece around the bottom of the CD. Eventually I got to opening the plastic door and was greeted by two superb pictures of Hayley each with a very distinguished personality with whom it is not disadvantageous for her to be seen: Geoff Hurst, covering her sporting interests and the Dalai Lama covering her spiritual side. This begged to be opened up and taking it out I encountered a picture of her in that lovely Japanese dress, a picture of her with Kofi Annan and one with the recipients of her 'Bikes for Ghana' charity. Thus, in two simple moments we have all aspects of her interests covered.
Opening further we have that lovely picture of the 'real' start of it all, busking with her sister and brother. This is a really charming picture and juxtaposed with her mature image in the Japanese dress tells immediately the length of the road she has travelled.
We have another UNICEF shot, then a picture of her with Bryn Terfel before turning the page again to find her with Andrea Bocelli at that 'dream gig' in her home town.
For anyone who has followed her from reasonably early on (as far as awareness in the UK is concerned) she has selected well, photographs that capture the real key events or turning points in her career. What is also delightful is that with just one or two exceptions, one being Steve Abbott, most of these pictures are credited to Jill. this evokes memories of those early days when seeing Jill flitting around the back of the theatre with her camera and tripod. One remembers the story of how the family pulled together with borrowed money to put her first album together and how she went round to customers, delivering it herself. Writing this brings back to my mind the tale of how she went round chivvying the London stores on the key Saturday when Pure was launched.
In all this is a superbly put together CD leaflet which blends wonderfully, the homeliness of the early days, the family togetherness that remains but is now more in the private sector than the public, the truly professional, highly talented artiste she has become while remaining a down-to-earth, wonderful human being to meet and in whose presence you feel simply great, even if you are simply on the edge of the crowd of those with something more meaningful to say at that time.
Peter S.
|
|
Martin
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team
Posts: 3,339
|
Post by Martin on Jan 6, 2009 13:53:54 GMT
Hi Peter Thanks for the in-depth review of the album sleeve - this must be a first for HWI! Incidentally, was there also a shinny plastic disk inside?  Best wishes Martin |
|
|
|
Post by grant on Jan 6, 2009 14:46:18 GMT
Hello Martin I was thinking the same! Peter will probably need a couple of pages to talk about the CD and then - Ohh!! He might get round to playing it! Seriously Peter, I agree that the sleeve is very well put together and rightly deserved a post of it's own. It is, after all, a snapshot of Hayley through time and, as a photographer, I felt it quite significant that all the pictures were taken by people close to her, rather than using formal shots from professional photo shoots. Best wishes Grant |
|
|
|
Post by postscript on Jan 6, 2009 15:28:57 GMT
Yes, Martin.
I thought I would deal separately with the disk inside, partly because there is not much to say and partly because much of what I would say crosses threads but since it is about the RoD disk I should be safe!
First, I'll address the list of titles as this is quite separate from the printed leaflet. In one way i am a little disappointed with the picture. Because of what she is wearing as well as the seemingly harsh frontal lighting, it gives a 'washed out' appearance, although one could argue this contrasts nicely with the otherwise dark background. However, the positive attribute is the pose. This takes me back to the Cardiff opportunity we had of being in the recording studio where we saw her 'at work'. Her stance indicates the 'working girl'. Harking back to Grant's habit of suggesting titles for photos he produces, the caption I would give this picture is 'Right, that's got that sorted, now what's your next problem?'
We open with the reason anyone who does not already have all her albums will immediately buy it if they haven't Pure, 'Pokarekara Ana'. There is nothing else in the world that says 'Hayley Westenra' than this song, whatever the arrangement in which it is presented. There is not one singer in the world who could hope to sing this without everyone thinking of `Hayley'. If you take Pure as her international launch then, as with the leaflet, the disk is starting at the beginning.
What more obvious to follow than the reason for the disk's title, the theme song and how appropriate. For anyone else Hayley's entire career has been a dream but she alone has lived it!
I skip to 'Songbird', a theme that appealed immediately to me when I first heard it by "All Angels". Having heard their version with its wonderful arrangement for four voices I challenge any singer but Hayley to sing it as meaningfully. Hayley can sing like four singers? YES. I will return to this point later as I cover aspects of that voice in comparison with other aspects covered across a variety of threads but I will handle those aspects in the context of RoD.
What is interesting is her introduction of the Bach/Gounod 'Ave Maria'. Could space alone have denied her the Schubert as well? I suspect we will have the Schubert live a few times fairly soon then, maybe, on a CD? One day we will get all three and i suspect that will wait until she decides to do a 'church-orientated' CD. Dangerously crossing threads regarding, what I would like to hear her sing and what songs should Hayley promote etc a Christmas CD which included all three versions of the 'Ave Maria' and some of John Rutter's work, with a few traditional seasonal classics would turn an otherwise seasonal CD into a CD for all seasons. Does anyone buying Christmas-orientated CDs really play them all the year through? Such a CD as I suggest I would argue would indeed be played all the year through. I believe it would be original. Dave, any comments?
Finally, as I have mentioned somewhere else, 'Now is the Hour' which blew me away when i unexpectedly heard it in concert. I think she should look more in that direction for her material.
I have left out comment on those songs we know so well. These are for Hayley to repeat not for me to re-iterate my feelings about them. What I will address is the collective whole of the CD. There is no 'Wuthering Heights' or similarly contrasting song and that is the key to the whole of this CD. Where 'Wuthering Heights' on Pure was right it would not be here. This is a balanced CD that is as sweetly 'innocent' as the girl she is. Throughout the whole of it there is not a single false note, rendition or arrangement. This is a CD that says simply and quietly, yet with the extraordinary complexity that is the girl herself, 'This is Hayley Westenra'.
From the first moment of sound to the very last dying fall of her last note, this is a voice that is uniquely hers, the purity, the clarity, the golden depths of her sonority is the sound that has made it increasingly impossible for me to tolerate anyone else of her age singing anything at all.
When I posted on the St James' thread that I had said to Dame Malvina, 'I know that tonight I have heard one of the greatest voices in the world, it is both exhilirating and very humbling,' Richard pressed me to claim Hayley too was one of the greatest voices. I declined with good reason. Her voice is unique and very beautiful but hearing the change over just the last few years I have been listening to her live on a regular basis, I can detect the changes. There is more to come. As I said to a fellow concert-goer at one of her last concerts in 2008, I know she is still developing and there will come a time, hopefully while I am still able, when I shall be sitting in a concert hall and realise she has hit her peak. That is when I shall gladly tell her I know I have just heard one of the world's greatest voices.
Peter S.
|
|
|
|
Post by martindn on Jan 6, 2009 19:43:25 GMT
Hi Peter,
So you liked it then?
Martin
|
|
|
|
Post by postscript on Jan 6, 2009 20:28:10 GMT
Following a post by Timj under the 'other vocalists' thread I now learn there is a fourth version of the Ave Maria! A version by Sissel puts words to the Mascagni Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana. Is anyone else aware of this?
Peter S.
|
|
|
|
Post by martindn on Jan 6, 2009 22:14:45 GMT
Actually Peter, I was being a bit flippant above. I know very well what you think of Hayley, and I agree wholeheartedly. I loved that review for your lovely comments about her.
But I think you contradict yourself. You first of all imply that there is no other singer of Hayley's age that is her equal, then say that you do not yet regerd her as one of the worlds greatest singers.
I on the other hand would say that when I first heard Hayley sing, aged 16, I knew that I was listening to a world class singer, although recognising that her voice would change and mature and hopefully improve in the future. And I am pleased to say she has managed to if anything exceed my best expectations.
For a singer that is still maturing, as she will for probably another ten years or so, if not longer, it is unfair to compare her voice to that of somebody in her sixties, especially such a fine singer as Dame Malvina.
I have shown the video of Barcarolle to a number of friends, and some have been blown away by it, by the performance of BOTH singers, even though they had come across neither of them before. I think we really are talking about two of the world's finest singers here, although at different stages of their careers.
Whereas Dame Malvina has a polished elegance that comes from decades of operatic performance, Hayley has a freshness and energy that is equally appealing.
I don't think I could possibly agree that Hayley does not merit the title of the of the worlds greatest singers. Who of her age is her better, or even her equal? I agree that she has hopefully many years ahead of her in which she will hopefully mature and improve even more, but we can only really meaningfully compare her with other singers at the same stage in their careers.
Best Wishes
Martin
|
|
