Huawei Winter Concert - London 6th Dec 2016

[Libby]

LOL I don't think it's purple. It's funny though, one time several years ago when she tweeted about having her hair done, I jokingly pleaded with her not to dye her hair blue. Her response was, I was thinking maybe purple? I don't think she's finally done it for real, though. LOL
I think maybe it must be darker underneath, or maybe her current hair coloring isn't long-lasting. Or, as you say, the lighting. Of course it would have appeared much lighter under the bright stage lights. I know virtually nothing about hair coloring, so I'm a little miffed myself. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing any photos HWI members might so kindly provide.

In the meantime, here are some other photos from twitter... check out that gorgeous new dress!! Now, why couldn't she have worn that in NY? Burnt orange isn't any more Christmasy than this blue one! Oh well, so glad to see her wearing a nice gown again. Though I can't actually tell how long it is. But definitely an improvement from the last few times. Best concert dress I've seen since her dark blue sparkly one from Cork and Madison (and Dublin 2014, of course). I suppose the venue had something to do with it... Oh, but, the Carnegie Hall isn't so small (in size or fame), either! Who knows?

Just realized the tweeter is next to Hayley in the photo! Don't know who he is though:

You can just barely see them, but this appears to be a sound check photo (based on the outfit and the time):

And, for comet, here's the untangled instagram photo:



Nice ring.....

[Libby]

Just saw a great set of photos by John on FB! The dress verdict: it IS a long gown! Yay!

[John H]

The long gown only appeared for Hayley's final solo, Silent Night.
Before that, she was wearing the orange dress from Carnegie Hall.

[Richard]

Hello folks!

It was a wonderful concert at the Royal Festival Hall last night. We didn't get the chance to meet Hayley, but it was good to see her again after such a long absence from London. I can confirm that Hayley's hair was a medium shade of blonde, and her voice sounded more mature than ever. The only song to add to the set list is "Hark The Herald Angels Sing", which Hayley, Bryn and Alma Deutscher sang together as an encore. Hayley and Bryn duetted on "Pokarekare Ana", "Homeward Bound" and "World In Union", Bryn sang "Shenandoah", and Hayley sang "Silent Night" as her final solo.

I can post a link to John's photos, but you must be logged in to Facebook to see them:

www.facebook.com/john.harvey.10485546/media_set?set=a.10157979055215121.1073742302.806075120&type=3

Richard

[Martin]

Thanks Richard and John for his facebook photos. I guess that there was a post concert reception which prevented you all meeting Hayley.

Good to see Tim behind the piano too.

Martin

[hammer]

A great show from Hayley last night, it was better than I expected, as Hayley sang more songs than I thought she would. Correct me if I'm wrong, as I can never remember what I've heard, but she sang, Across the Universe of Time, Amazing Grace, The Moon Represents my Heart, Pokarekare Ana, Whispers in a Dream, Greener Lands, Who will Echo my Heart, Silent Night and World in Union. ACE!

And of course, it was great meet up with Grant, Gordon and Richard.

Here's to next time!

[Richard]

Hello Mike!

I didn't take any notes, but I'm fairly sure Hayley duetted with Bryn for "Homeward Bound", to close the first half. It was good to see you again too!

Richard

[keithp]

It was a great concert. I was pleasantly surprised by how many songs Hayley performed, I thought Bryn would be the one with most time but I think Hayley topped it. It was great to see her live again after what, for me, has been about 4 years wait. Looking forward to the new album, whenever it is completed.
I have to say that, apart from Hayley sounding & looking fantastic, Alma Deutscher was amazing, what a very talented 11 year old she is. It's great when a prodigy like her still has so many qualities for a child that people lose far too early these days.

[Dori]

Hi all! Been a looooong time since I posted here 😊 I was at the concert last night, and it was magical of course. I wondered if anyone knew where the professional photos to the reception can be found? I've been looking for them all day! All you amazing people out there who track down event photos might be able to help!

[jimg]

Dec 7, 2016 16:50:28 GMT Dori said:

Hi all! Been a looooong time since I posted here 😊 I was at the concert last night, and it was magical of course. I wondered if anyone knew where the professional photos to the reception can be found? I've been looking for them all day! All you amazing people out there who track down event photos might be able to help!

Great to see you posting again. I saw your tweet yesterday:

Sukayna Aaraji ‏@sukayna88 11h11 hours ago

Well it's been a while but I'm back

I wondered where you were but had no idea you were in the UK. Did you meet any other HWI members? Have you any photos or a report?

[Libby]

Here's a retweet from Hayley, and some other nice tweets from fans, one of which Hayley "liked" today:

A fantastic evening in aid of @princestrust - check out the acts @bryn_Terfel & @hayleywestenra in action


The lighting is MUCH better here. The bright lights of the photos from Carnegie did something to her eyes that made her look like her younger photos in her book! That's why I said she had a youthful look. Here, she looks "normal".


This is the one Hayley liked:

I particularly like this one, from a fan from Indianapolis, IN.

[Richard]

A nice reply to Huawei's tweet:

And another tweet to Hayley:

Richard

[Richard]

A photo from Alma Deutscher:

Richard

[Dori]

Hello all, yes I live in London now. A lot had happened over the years and I dropped out of sight for a bit!

I was at the reception but didn't meet up with anyone else from here as I was unsure of who was coming. It wasn't until after the concert that I logged in here.

I'm still trying to find those photos from the reception but have had no luck yet!

Dori 😊

[grant]

Hello everyone

I Was unsure about this one to begin with, with Bryn Terfel headlining and a ticket price tag of £39 with an overnight stay required as well. Jim and John had booked, Gordon was thinking about it and well, I haven’t seen much of Hayley recently have I? So what if we only get 3 or 4 songs? It is Hayley we’re talking about after all.

Looking back now at the events of two nights ago how gutted would I have been to have missed it?

Tuesday dawned with uncertainty however, with me having booked my usual Travelodge in Croydon and Southern trains being on strike and a possible tube strike likely on top to boot. I told myself I would head down to London to assess the situation and decide what to do then, but I don’t think I would have given up whatever I found when I got down there. As it was, I didn’t have any problems and met up with Gordon and Richard for a pre-show meal and a bit of a hang at the artists entrance “just in case”

This would be the second time I have seen Hayley perform at the Royal Festival Hall having previously seen her there in September 2009 and I remember what a splendid venue it is with deep comfy seats. Unfortunately, with this one being a sponsored event in aid of the Prince’s Trust and with tickets having been on sale for some time before HWI discovered it, we ended up in the side stalls so nowhere near as close to Hayley as we usually are. However, there are quite a few empty seats around us so we moved a couple of time until we found a spot we liked!

The orchestra opened the proceedings with The Nutcracker overture following which Bryn came onto stage to open the vocal aspect with Ombra mai fu which I have to say, I did not like one little bit. However, he followed up with Impossible Dream which I did like.

Next to venture on stage was Alma Deutscher who you have probably never heard of – believe me, you will soon. Alma is a violinist and she played the 3rd Movement of a Violin Concerto in G Minor which she wrote herself. She plays an Italian violin which dates from 1730 and she is amazing. Oh! did I forget to mention she is only 11 years old and she wrote the piece when she was 9! Her bio is incredible, so do look her up.

Now it was Hayley’s turn on stage wearing the familiar burn orange dress and black heels, opening with Across The Universe of Time, it felt so good to hear her sing on “home turf” as it were and whatever some may have though was missing in Dublin earlier in the year, she sounded amazing. This was especially so for me with her next song Amazing Grace – and a version I particularly like with a traditional opening verse followed by an orchestral verse and then the first verse again but to a new arrangement which I find quite beautiful.

The second highlight of the first half was Hayley's third song The Moon Represents My Heart which also went down very well with the concerts sponsors. A favourite of mine since I first heard it, it was fabulous to hear it sung live. Hayley then left the stage briefly whilst Bryn returned to sing Ar Hyd Y Nos – a Welsh language version of All Through The Night. As Bryn finished Hayley returned with Pokarekare Ana which Bryn joined in part way through, careful not to drown Hayley out with his powerful Baritone voice which impressed me greatly. The final song of the first half was Homeward Bound NOT the Simon and Garfunkle one but the Marta Keen Thompson one as arranged by Wilberg for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Did we have a lot to talk about in the interval? We sure did! Particularly the fact that Hayley appeared to be getting pretty much equal billing to Bryn and not what one might have expected at all.

Another piece from the Nutcracker opened the second half and then it was back to our Hayley. This time, Hayley opened with Whispers In A Dream followed by the two new ones Greener lands and Who Will Echo My Heart, both of which I really enjoy hearing more each time Hayley sings them. Hayley did comment that she had been writing for a new album which she said was taking a long time. (Don’t we know it!)

Having been wowed by her in the first half of the concert, little Alma was greeted by even louder applause from the audience as she returned to the stage to play the second movement of her violin concerto. Fascinating to watch her play with such confidence and panache her performance would have been creditable from someone twice or three times her age.

Bryn now returned to stage with a Hayley favourite (remember her saying “This song has 100 verses and the doors are locked”?) yes, you do I’m sure. Shenandoah, then another Welsh one Anfonaf Angel.

As the concert moved into it’s final phase, Hayley returned once again to give us a Christmassy one with Silent Night which Bryn followed with Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer and the final one of the evening World In Union with both Hayley and Bryn on vocals and Alma with her violin. This was another superb highlight of what had been one of the most memorable of the 81 times I have now seen Hayley perform. But the evening is not quite over yet………..

By the volume of the applause from the almost capacity audience, everyone must have been totally wowed the way we had been throughout the evening. Having been presented with large bouquets Hayley, Bryn and Alma left the stage to shouts of MORE!! (well, you have to don’t you?)

Returning moments later, for an encore the choice was Hark The Herald Angels with young Alma also joining in on vocals once Hayley had ducked around Bryn to help her detach her microphone from its stand, and proving that she is not only a superb violinist but a remarkable singer too.

We left the auditorium to go our separate ways clear in the knowledge that we had been part of something very special and, totting up, we had had 10 songs from Hayley, more than twice the maximum we had expected or hoped for. We had witnessed something very special in young Alma Deutscher and Bryn who had headlined the concert but had, at no time, attempted to steal the show (we all know who did that!)

A truly great night and I am so glad I WAS THERE!