Paradiso [CD]

A truly great CD. Whilst I have nearly all of Haley's CD's none of the songs on this CD are retakes of others I already have.

Some of the songs are very peaceful and at times haunting i.e. Gabriels Oboe and Once Upon a Time in the West. There is not one track I do not like and Haley's performance through out is superb. I have been playing it virtually non stop along with three other artists for days now and still not tired of it. In fact I still find something new to take in when replaying it.

The presentation case complements the music nicely.

Paradiso

For this album Hayley has teamed up with Ennio Morricone and this is a match made in heaven and it has produced a truly amazing album. Hayley's voice perfectly fits Ennio's romanic compositions. The music on this album covers much of Morricone's early music to iconic film scors such as The Mission and Cinema Paradiso, but there are also mew compisitions and new lyrics some of which Hayley has written herself. Apart from Hayley's outstanding vocals, the new arrangements really stand out on this CD. For me Paradiso contains the best arrangements of Gabriel's Oboe that I have heard with a vocal, its much better than any version of Nella Fantasia I have heard. Also the versions of La Califfa and Cinema Paradiso really stand out with beautiful lyrics and orchestral arrangements. Morricone has really pushed Hayley as these songs are very emotional and Hayley really shows this in her voice and this is the sort of music she should be performing and is very different to her other albums.

The Tracks that really stand out for me are:

La Califfa- Hayley has writen some beautiful new English lyrics for this song and it is orchestrated beautifully; especially the use of the piano in the third verse and strings in the fourth.
Once Upon a Time in the West- This is a vocaliese; I don't think any other artist can do a vocaliese like Hayley, it is amazing how moving this song is when there are no lyrics- again the use of strings is perfect towards the end.
Metti Una Sera a Cena- this deserves a mention becasue it has a more pop-like sound and is different to many of the other tracks and it is also a testament to Morricone's talent that the music seems completely at odds with the meaning of the song.
Lezione di Musica- this is a new composition for this album and again is different; it sounds like vocal exercises and really showcases Hayley's talent and range.
Amalia Por Amor- This is amazing, it is very dramatic which is not something that Hayley does very often, but after listening to this I think she should do more songs like this, it is in portugese, one of my favourites on the album.
Would he Even Know Me Now- these are new lyrics by Don Black, they are beautiful, this song had to grow on me, but after listening a few times this is a really stunning song
Edge of Love- this had lyrics by Tim Rice, it is arranged and performed in a simple style
Malena- another song Hayley has written lyrics for, I love the tune to this and the lyrics, this is a perfect snd to the album

Paradiso is very different to Hayley's other albums and its the best one I think- although her Japanese ones are hard to beat. It is the perfect combination of Hayley's voice and Morricone's music and arragements that make this album so good- I would reccomend this to everyone, even if they were not classical music fans, the music on this album is simply stunning.

A great voice is one thing, but without the right material, the talent is wasted. Who better than the great Ennio Morricone, (composer of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns with Eastwood, Once upon a time in America, Once upon a time in the West and much more) to collaborate with Westenra. This new album, released a while ago in some countries has some of 83 year old Morricone's famous film music as well as newly written music just for this album. Angelic Westenra has added to this album by writing English lyrics to some of his famous pieces. There are tracks here from Once upon a time in the West and from Once upon a time in America, which alone makes this album a standout. Morricone produced all of the tracks, some with new arrangements and using the resources of his own 120 piece orchestra. Now it might seem I am reviewing Morricone rather than Westenra but that is because the two together make this album what it is.
Recorded in Rome, this is an album not only for the lover of classical soprano but crossover music. Westenra has previously covered many yesteryear songs, such as Scarborough Fair (Simon & Garfunkel), Both sides now (Joni Mitchell), Wuthering heights (Kate Bush) but this album is more of a classical orchestral work. Almost an hour of music, this album is worth listening to on quiet evenings; on thoughtful days.