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Editorial Reviews

Listening to Hayley Westenra -- the angelic-voiced, 16-year-old New Zealander -- naturally brings to mind a certain other teenage vocal prodigy who made her mark singing a mix of classical, traditional, and popular songs. And, in truth, without the path blazed by Charlotte Church, Westenra's overnight global success might not have come to pass. Yet like Church's, Westenra's rapid rise is no fluke: She possesses a lovely, radiantly youthful voice, and her natural, straightforward delivery on Pure, her first album, is simply enchanting. She embraces a wide range of material, bringing an unerring sense of pitch and effortless singing style to adaptations of familiar classical tunes: Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte" becomes "Never Say Goodbye" and the slow-movement theme from Vivaldi's "Winter" Concerto turns into "River of Dreams," while Carl Orff's love song "In trutina" from Carmina Burana is as innocently chaste as you're ever likely to hear. Westenra also tackles such traditional tunes as "Amazing Grace" and a pair of Maori songs, "Pokarekare Ana" (Come Back to Me) and "Hine e Hine" (Maiden, O Maiden), and brings other, more contemporary fare, such as "Who Painted the Moon Black?" and "Beat of Your Heart," into the blend as well. It's all disarmingly charming -- only in "Wuthering Heights" does she really let go, pulling off a full-on Kate Bush imitation. In a phrase: a Pure pleasure. EJ Johnson, Barnes & Noble

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