Dear Banjo,

Thank You for giving us a change of topic on this
forum. I have to confess I was not familiar with
Amira Willighagen. However she appears to be quite
extraordinary. She won the sixth season of
"Holland's Got Talent" in 2013 at the tender age of 9.
Making her just 13 today.
And I believe that her rendition of Gounod's "Ave Maria"
is simply breath-taking as is her interpretation of
Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from the Opera "Turandot".

It's made me want to try to get hold of her recordings.
The fact that Andre Rieu invited her to perform with
him is a great compliment. He has so many wonderful
singers on his shows. I watched him yesterday afternoon -
on SBS - at 2pm. It was a 25th Anniversary Concert and
again - very entertaining.

Music has a wonderful effect on people. I work part-time
as a volunteer in my mother's nursing home - in the
dementia-wing. I have donated quite a few DVDs of Andre
Rieu's concerts to the home. The staff play them for
the residents, always with positive results. It's
marvellous what music therapy can do for people.
People who normally don't react - but do to music.

Hello Foxy,
I thought of you when putting up the thread, I reckoned you would adore Amira's voice. If you play her Nella Fantasia after her performance with Andre Rieu, the transformation is incredible in just 3 years. At 12 she is a talented, confident young woman. The Africans do a really good job of their stage productions and recordings.

I play Amira's songs several times daily, as well as the Slim Dusty's and other country and bluegrass. Her rendition of O Sole Mio with Patricio Baurne has been rated as the best ever.

Trust we can continue to enjoy her brilliant voice and everyone will have their favorites. Lucky us!

Dear Banjo,

Thank You for letting us know about Amira.

I will definitely be buying her recordings.

She sounds awesome!

Hey Banjo,
I got curious...
Who is this 'Amira Willighagen' I thought.
So I went and took a look.

I'm not really big on Opera, I'm not sure I could handle it being played all day long, it probably go crazy.
But everyone has their own different tastes in music.
- And I'll agree she certainly is very talented.
Thanks for sharing.

AC,
Opera is not my scene either, but Amira is something else. I am no expert but if you ever watched Torvil and Dean or Katerina Witt skating, that is the class I put Amira in for her voice. I have no doubt we are witnessing the development of one of the best opera performers ever. I hope others also googled some of her videos.

Foxy,
Australia is the only continent Amira has yet to visit. When that happens it means a flight to Sydney or Melbourne for me and a overnight stay just to attend her concert. Hell it is worth it as you cannot find perfection every day. Even after listening to her recordings of her live performances many, many, times I still get teary. I think Amira is currently in Africa recording so maybe there will be another release this year. Hard to believe this young lady is just 13 and has performed for only 4 years. what will another 10 years bring?

Foxy,
I must say your admiration for Andre Rieu is well founded. After watching 'Andre Rieu and Amira--O Mio Babbino Caro' many times I have to conclude that Andre is a clever man and good luck to him.

Holland Got Talent will be recognized for discovering Amira but Andre will get the accolades for providing Amira with her first major concert venue and supporting her in that. Amira rewarded him with a perfect performance at the concert. It was most astute of Andre to phone from his Australian tour to secure Amira's engagement for that concert. Her performance now has 11.5 million views and continues to grow.

My best wishes to both and I hope to see Amira perform at more Andre Rieu concerts in future. Trust you have obtained and enjoy Amira's recordings.