Copenhagen Koncerthuset 22 April 2012

[Joe]

Thanks for finding and sharing this article, Martin D. :wink:

[Bamafan]

Thanks for the article Martin A very nice review, but I would never call Hayley "unexciting." I mean, who couldn't get a little excited during Wuthering Heights? I do. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

-Taylor

[Libby]

I'm sure it's just the translation. I rarely can figure out the so-called translations. LOL

[Richard]

Hello folks!

I just tried the World Lingo translator with very similar results. I think it translates from Swedish to English via Japanese!

Richard

[martindn]

Right, well I've finally got round to having a go at translating it myself. It is amazing how a language you were fluent in 40 years ago comes back to you when you try to understand it in anger. Even when you haven't used it since!

There are one or two places where I struggled, I think because I was trying to translate technical terms that I don't know the English equivalent of (if there is one). Your guess is a good as mine.

Anyway here goes. It might clarify things a bit for some of you.



Review

Hayley Westenra inbibed music with her mothers milk, and (her future) was marked out early as a young child. As a six year old she made her stage debut; at twelve years old she entered a recording studio for the first time, and in 2003 at sixteen, the New Zealander had a hit with her first international record Pure. Suddenly she was a world star, in the exciting, but not over acclaimed genre Classical Crossover.

Nearly a decade and four million album sales later, the singer stood in the similarly new and modern Concert Hall on Sunday and caressed the public's eardrums with her soothing angelic voice. With her in her baggage, the vocalist had her latest work, Paradiso, a collaboration with the legendary film music composer Ennio Morricone.

That the well known theme from Cinema Paradiso, Profumo Dr Limone was on the set list was to be expected, and just as it should be it was as tasty. Tasty without taking to the breast notes (whatever they are) to be precise. For Westenra plays neither in the opera based league, where divas like Katherine Jenkins and Natasha Marsh find themselves, nor in Sarah Brighman's more musical driven big hitting domain. Perhaps she can be characterised as a youngish and little more easy going version of Sissel Kyrkjeb. She is a fine soprano, but lacks the real depth of our Nordic pride. Therefore standard numbers like Amazing Grace and I Dreamed a Dream seemed equally smooth that evening. Certainly, her interpreation can be seen as both delicate and enchanting (or charming), but the moderate level of excitement reduced the impact.

The twenty five year old's voice is undoubtedly well suited for a lot of other material too. Which was clearly demonstrated on sunday. Whether she was performing a gentle pop song like Fleetwood Mac's Songbird, a sparse piano ballad in the style of the lullaby like Sonny, or a folky thing like Scarborough Fair, or the disgustingly catchy uptempo beat of Summer Fly, her crossover touch was sure. Also, it was hard not to be impressed by her cover of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights. Suddenly, she showed another side of her, that she is very well able to think of playing with her voice and testing her vocal limits. Dump the controlled conditions (or break the mould?), just grab something different. That is the nature of the genre as well. And it showed us yet another dimension of her potential.

Martin D

[Ross]

Here are some more photos from the concert:-

www.flickr.com/photos/blanhe2/7119548431/in/set-72157629576089724/