Review: Hayley Westenra - Celtic Treasure

Over the weekend I had the occasion to listen to the new offering by New Zealand singer, Hayley Westenra, which is called Celtic Treasure. Celtic Treasure contains thirteen short songs of varying type.

Before receiving the CD last week, I had only heard of Hayley Westenra, and had never really paid much attention to her style of music or to her recordings. I listened to this CD cold, with no expectations, good or bad.

Usually I have an extremely wide range of musical interests, from classical to vintage rock, country to blues, 40s swing to the bubblegum top 40s of the 60s and 70s. As long as it's pleasing and well done, I like all kinds of music. As many of you know, I am no stranger to professional musicians, with a pianist son and Darling Daughter who studies both flute and voice. I know quality.

That said, for the most part, I found the CD mostly listenable. While I'm no huge fan of Celtic music, I can listen to it. From what I could tell, traditional Celtic musicians who nicely accentuated her voice accompany Hayley: flute, harp, guitar, piano and strings. The musicians did not detract from her effort. This is a very nicely done CD.

Hayley's lilting voice is best served when she does the more classic songs, like "Scarborough Fair" (which I especially enjoyed), "Shenandoah" and "Danny Boy." She also does quite well on the ballads "Let Me Lie," "Thye Last Rose of Summer" and "Whispering Hope." Her voice sounded moderately strained on the more contemporary sounding pieces, like "Summerfly." I'm not sure why she included this eclectic song on this CD, but her reaching for the higher notes on this more "rocking" popular piece detracted from the entire work. Perhaps she wanted to appeal to the mainstream audience, instead of just those who enjoy Celtic music.

"One Fine Day" was very reminiscent of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and while it's quite an operatic piece, I found that Hayley's voice sounded uncomfortable with the high notes. Hayley did much better on the following pieces, "Sonny," "The Water is Wide" and "Abide With Me" with minimal spare piano accompaniment. If she did have to extend her range for a high note, it was done with seeming effortlessness.

For some reason, I had the distinct impression that Hayley was attempted to emulate another great Celtic singer, Enya, but was not successful on all counts. "Summer Rain" starts out musically like something from an Enya album, but Hayley's voice doesn't carry the high notes as gracefully. Her voice came very close to being annoying on this particular piece. The difference between the two singers is very slight, but noticeable. Enya's voice is breathy yet always smooth as silk. Hayley, while having quite a beautiful voice, is not quite there yet.

Not knowing anything about Hayley, I decided to visit her web site at www.hayleywesterna.com. I was surprised to learn that Hayley is only 19 years old! For such a young person, she has been singing professionally for five years. She's an extremely beautiful young woman, and for a singer her age, has a strong and wonderful voice. In addition, she's very socially aware, and donates time and money to various causes. She has achieved quite a bit for a person her young age.

I would love to see Hayley do a Celtic Christmas album. In addition, her voice is so well suited to standards, and I would love to hear more of that genre.

I'll no doubt keep my eye on Hayley Westerna. As time goes on, and she matures, I am sure she will eventually become the foremost Celtic singer. Until then, Celtic Treasure was a pleasant introduction to an up and coming young performer.