Treasure

Treasure is a celebration of Hayley's family roots

Having sung before royalty and performed with the Irish super-group Celtic Woman, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, the very young and remarkably beautiful singer Hayley Westenra is back with Treasure, a tribute to her Celtic ancestry. As with her previous platinum-selling releases (she is already a huge star in her native New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and the UK), the orchestrations are sophisticated and rich. Recorded in Dublin, Ireland, Hayley's third solo album is a very personal collection of classical arias, Irish and Maori folk songs - representing treasured people and places in her remarkable musical journey. For the first time the album also includes several original tracks written by Hayley herself. Treasure is a celebration of Hayley's family roots, and her grandparents’ journey across the World on the first boat that left Ireland for New Zealand in the 1880s - taking with them a rich musical heritage. Her grandmother, a singer, and her grandfather, who played the accordion, were to be important influences on Hayley's musical development.

Hayley Westenra expands her artistic horizons

Hayley grew up hearing her grandmother singing Italian opera arias in English. Hayley has continued this tradition by recording the well-known aria One Fine Day... ('Un bel di) from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Hayley's grandmother also sang Irish folk tunes, and Hayley includes one of them - Danny Boy on the album as a tribute to her. Another Irish folk tune Sonny, is the first recording in which Hayley accompanies herself on the piano. Hayley's deep sense of pride as a New Zealander, and the simple beauty of her voice come together in E Para Ra - a Maori lovesong reflecting her own love of her homeland. Santa Lucia is a famous composition that is known all over the world, but in Hayley's perfomance it sounds fresh, she breathed new life into it. Hayley expands her artistic horizons with this album which features her in the roles of songwriter, arranger, and pianist on a handful of selections. Hayley's first recordings of her own songs bring together all these musical influences. They include a couple of more pop-oriented songs like Abide With Me, Let Me Lie and Summer Rain and her lyrics to a haunting lute song by the Elizabethan English composer John Dowland, called simply Melancholy Interlude.

Hayley Westenra is constantly developing

There are still some artists with musical talent left. Hayley is one of these artists. Her tone quality is superb and her diction is amazing as well. In a purely technical nature Treasure is overflowing and the beauty of this is breathtaking. This album is an amazing successor to the amazing repertoire that is the Hayley Westenra collection. Her previous compilations were all execelent with each succeeding album being better than the last, but this one is far superior in it quality as shows off the work that she has been doing since her last release Odyssey. This album has a more Celtic feel but that is fine as her voice is well suited to many different genres and Treasure provides the evidence that the Celtic genre is also not beyond her grasp. Although her general choice for music has changed her talent is always invariable. Hayley was given more freedom to create Treasure with her own unique taste. This album has been eagerly awaited by Hayley's many fans, and it's not likely to disappoint any of them. She continues to be one of the most exciting young singers in the world today.