Massaging jobless figures to suit political end
- Today's leader
Hundreds hear Hayley
Monday 18th June 2007, 10:54AM BST.
Classical singing sensation Hayley Westenra took to the stage in Telford for a sell-out performance at a church.
She wowed a crowd of more than 400 when she made a return visit to St George’s Church, St Georges, accompanied by fellow New Zealander, violinist Fiona Pears.
But despite praise for the singer’s performance, she was criticised for the length of the concert.
Phil Collins, who had travelled from Cannock, said Miss Westenra’s performance had been “beautiful”, but he had been disappointed she sang only a few songs.
“She was held up by the weather, but you can’t help that,” he said. “Her singing was lovely. It’s a beautiful church, the acoustics were gorgeous.
“She sang three songs and disappeared off stage and left the violinist to do a couple then came back and did two or three more, then had an intermission for goodness knows how long.
“The impression I got was that the violinist was practising, there was no question she was a talented violinist, but that was not who we went to see.
“She sang no more than 10 songs and at £20 a ticket, we were just a bit disappointed. I didn’t feel cheated but I just didn’t think it was great.”
Mr Collins’s wife, Teresa, added: “It was absolutely brilliant, but we were a bit disappointed that she didn’t actually sing that much.
“What she sang was very, very good, but she could have sung more.”
Sponsored Links
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
LIVE traffic updates
Road, rail and airport - latest
Our new, live traffic and travel updates service - check before you set out.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Your reporter Debbie obviously only sought the comments of just one couple. I stood at the exit as all the audience left, and no-one else complained that there ‘were only a few songs’. The number and choice of songs were what one would expect from this type of concert.Most of us would prefer fewer songs perfectly sung, than a greater number that could adversely affect the singer’s voice.
Hayley’s singing was faultless, despite being delayed by floods and having to rehearse until just 1/2 hour before the performance.She was a joy to hear.
Fiona Pears was magic! What’s this rubbish that ‘the violinist was practicing’!She practically danced as she played some of her music, and had the whole audience clapping along as she performed ‘Hava Nagila’. She was wonderful and very professional both as an accompanist and a soloist, and the audience showed their appreciation with uproarious applause.
The interval was an average length for a concert of this type.
Hayley’s encore, an a capella rendition of ‘Abide with me’was heartbreakingly beautiful and brought tears to the eyes.
After the concert Hayley and Fiona spent a long time charmingly and graciously chatting to members of the audience, signing autographs and CDs and posing with them for photographs.
It was a wonderful evening and money very well spent.
Report abuse
Telford St George’s on Saturday 16th June was my 12th Hayley concert and was certainly one of the best for intimacy. I am proud to say that Hayley’s a capella rendition of “Abide With Me” was at my request. I had asked her after her concert in Stoke-on-Trent if she would consider including it, but I never expected it to be a capella – it was difficult to find words after the concert to thank her properly.
As for the negative comments about the concert, well, the word “rubbish” comes to mind Fiona was at her absolute best as Jackie has already said and as for the length of the concert, my experiences indicate it was typical for this type of concert. In fact Hayley sang 12 songs not 10! and as for the guy from Cannock being ‘disappointed’ well, I was with a group from “www.hayley-westenra-international.com most of whom had travelled much further than from Cannock to see Hayley perform. In fact 2 of our members had flown in from Germany and one from the United States JUST FOR HAYLEY. Need I add that non of us were the least bit disappointed with the evening.
Best wishes
Grant Wright
Report abuse
An absolutely superb evening’s entertainent. Why has the Shropshire Star chosen to print “Phil Collins’” comments as these were clearly not representative of the other 399 people at the concert.
It is usual for such a performance to last around two hours with interval and for an artist such as Ms Westenra to offer 10 – 12 songs. The fact that she was accompanied by such an eminent star of the violin was an absolute and unexpected bonus.
Whilst the concert started approximately ten minutes late this did not detract in any way from the performance and an interval of fifteen minutes was not unreasonable.
Any suggestion that Fiona Pears was “practicing” is laughable. She is an “A” list artist and gave the performance her all.
£20 a head for two headline artists was the bargain of the year.
Report abuse