Winter Magic Tour - Ripon Cathedral

Having last seen Hayley Westenra perform live back in March during her rearranged "River Of Dreams" show, I was thrilled to read of her planned "Winter Magic" tour, performing Christmas concerts in some of the country's beautiful Cathedrals and wasted no time in booking my tickets.

Now I have to confess to being a bit of a Scrooge these days, as the commercialisation and ever earlier bombardment of Christmas hype each year has somewhat taken a toll on my Festive Spirit. But in spite of it only being November, as I made my way through the traffic and rain, then braced myself against the biting wind that whistled outside Ripon Cathedral, I knew nature had done her best to provide us with the Winter part of proceedings and had every faith that Hayley would provide the added "magic" needed to coax even my reluctant Christmas spirit out of hiding!

The setting for tonight's concert, Ripon's beautiful golden stone cathedral, was an impressive site from outside and didn't disappoint inside either. With exquisite carvings, sweeping arches and a stunning high wooden ceiling it provided a real feast for the senses in it's own right. And being a relatively small cathedral the seating arrangements in the nave created a rather unexpectedly cosy and intimate feel for the event, despite it being very well attended. Unfortunately I feel the organisational side of things could have been a little better though, as it was very unclear whether seating was allocated or not and the entrance/sales desk was set up in such a way that people were left queuing out in the bitterly cold wind.

Once everyone had settled into their seating, the lighting was dimmed leaving the stage area and arches illuminated, which, along with the row of candles placed in front of the stage, cleverly created a soft, atmospheric scene. The vicar then welcomed us to the Cathedral, making the necessary announcements before introducing Hayley. Her constant companions on recent tours, A.J., Tim and the string quartet Raven filed onto the stage to warm applause, closely followed by Hayley herself, wearing a pretty, sparkly white and gold two piece outfit. Approaching the microphone, with minimal accompaniment, she launched into the opening song, Veni Veni Emmanuel and, not for the first time, blew me away. As I closed my eyes and let her stunning, crystal clear vocals wash over me, with the cathedrals stone walls resonating the acoustics perfectly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and the tears welled in my eyes with pure emotion. It is always difficult to accurately put into words the effect Hayley's voice has on people, but here in this beautiful setting it was virtually impossible.

As the well deserved applause died down, Hayley welcomed and thanked us for coming, speaking about the beautiful, "breath-taking" venue and of course the weather, stating that she'd needed five layers during her warm-up. It all added to the festive spirit but she decided that wearing mittens on stage wasn't really the best look! The next songs needed no real introduction, as we were treated to a lovely rendition of two classics, Little Drummer Boy followed by The Christmas Song, both of which Hayley seemed to thoroughly enjoy performing.

Hayley went on to introduce her backing musicians, starting with her fellow New Zealander Tim Evans on piano, A.J Moore on the guitar and lastly, Raven, whom she invited to take centre stage as she took a short break. The talented string quartet then treat us to their version of Ravel's Bolero, mentioning it's synonymous association with Torvil and Dean's gold medal winning performance and commenting that it's not quite cold enough for skates...yet! They then performed a cleverly arranged medley of Scottish reels and songs, including I'll Take The High Road.

When Hayley returned to the stage she talked about a piece of sheet music given to her by her grandmother as a child, long before she could read music, which has since become her favourite version of the song in question. She went on to perform a typically stunning rendition of Caccini's Ave Maria, with the cathedral's stone walls seeming to add an extra haunting quality to the piece. After moving her microphone slightly to avoid a potential disaster between her precarious heels and a crack in the stone flooring, Hayley went on to explain how the next song was the initial inspiration for her new Christmas album. I'd not actually heard Little Road To Bethlehem before, but thoroughly enjoyed this lively, upbeat and cleverly arranged song and can well understand Hayley's affection for it too.

The very differently styled but equally beautifully performed Corpus Christi Carol was another new one to me. Apparently the manuscript for the song was found in 1504, but it's suspected that this classic and unusual carol could be even older. Hayley also informed us that there are many different interpretations of the lyrics, which appear to centre on a falcon helping a boy, before inviting us to do our own research on the subject! To end the first half, Hayley was joined on stage by the Ripon Cathedral Choir School to perform The Coventry Carol. Stepping back from her microphone to stand amongst the choir, the effect of Hayley's gentle vocals alongside the children's innocent, pure voices created an incredibly ethereal sound, which left us all rather spell bound.

Following loud and well deserved applause, the short interval was filled with positive feedback and chatter, as people took the opportunity to stretch their legs and look around the cathedral's impressive interior. It's a shame that there was no where to get any refreshments during the break though.

The lights dimmed once again and Raven returned to the stage, performing a medley of Vivaldi's Four Seasons followed by a combination of songs from the Godfather films, both pieces very cleverly arranged by the group. Hayley then made her way back onto the stage, now wearing a red dress with longer sleeves and sat in front of the piano. At this point she claimed not to be a keyboard player, but her very moving and accomplished rendition of Joni Mitchell's River most certainly proved otherwise!

Her next song was equally moving, having been recorded originally by Eva Cassidy just two weeks before her death. I first heard Hayley sing I Know You By Heart back in March and had been struck by it's poignant words and emotions then, so it was no surprise that my eyes began to leak again during tonight's performance. I had barely dried my tears before I was in need of another tissue though, with Hayley leading into a beautiful carol she described as one of her favourites. Her performance of O Holy Night was nothing less than sublime and I can say with great certainty that I was far from alone in shedding tears.

As Hayley took a well earned rest from the stage, Raven, Tim and A.J filled the interlude with an instrumental rendition of The Holly & The Ivy which had the unmistakable strains of Fawlty Tours added in to it's middle section for good measure. I'm not quite sure how many people noticed the little twist, but it definitely gave my family a giggle, helping us recover our composure a little after the sogginess of previous songs! The light, jovial theme continued when Hayley returned on to the stage too, as she bravely took charge of a prop and thoroughly enjoyed energetically shaking her bells along to Sleigh Ride.

Speaking about her next song, Hayley explained how she had written it during the summer months so had been waiting for Christmas for a long time now. She went on to perform Peace Shall Come, one of three songs she has written especially for her Winter Magic album, to accompany the tour. This cleverly crafted, catchy and wonderfully upbeat piece looks like becoming yet another success in her blossoming song writing career. After thanking us again for coming and saying goodnight, Hayley then ended the official set with the beautiful Love Came Down At Christmas, leading to another mass break out of tissues and hugely appreciative applause.

Somewhat predictably Hayley didn't get away without an encore, returning to the stage to top up our festive spirit with the classic Christmas song, Silent Night, sung as beautifully and hauntingly as every other preceding it. As the audience showered yet more applause towards the stage, Hayley's sneaky glance at Tim was followed by the question "time for just one more?" - with an inevitable response! We were then given one final treat, as Hayley left us with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and an atmosphere more befitting the 24th of December rather than November.

Hayley and her fellow musicians finally left the stage to the applause, thanks and appreciation they richly deserved and as people gradually made their way out of the grand old cathedral the general hub-bub was definitely both positive and festive.... with not a bah humbug in sight!

Whether you're an old fan or just discovering Hayley Westenra, I can certainly highly recommend this tour. Sadly I can't guarantee that it will cure all Christmas cynicism or make Christmas shopping any easier, but I'm pretty sure that it will kick start your real Christmas spirit and leave you with a huge respect for Hayley's special kind of Magic, no matter what the season.

Added: November 28th 2009
Reviewer: xena
Score: