DiscountDelight - Classics
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $7.74
Your Save: $ 10.24 ( 57% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Angel Records
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724353325725
Label: Angel Records
Manufacturer: Angel Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Angel Records
Release Date: 2001-11-20
Studio: Angel Records
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fails to impress...
Comment: Now I'm as much a Sarah Brightman fan as the next guy; thought she was terrific vocally as "Phantom"'s Christine. Listening to this CD helps me to remember that was *20* years ago. What Sarah lacks in vocal control and tonality she makes up for in breathiness and her infamous "swooping" up into high notes.
This CD features a number of "new" recordings, although I don't understand why. Sarah takes on Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu" as well as "Time to Say Goodbye" alone. These two duets propelled her to stardom in their time which makes me wonder why she gives such a half-hearted effort at re-recording them alone with such shoddy results.
Sarah also has re-recorded Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" which allows one to hear firsthand the decline of her voice in just a few years.
The only redeeming tracks on this CD are those that were taken from previous albums--"La Luna", "Eden", and "Time to Say Goodbye". My recommendation would be to buy those CDs instead to hear Sarah Brightman at her best and to leave this CD alone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Lite
Comment: I credit Sarah Brightman with introducing me to opera music. Tho I really like her broadway tunes singing better now that I've listened to real operas because her techniques and style just don't fit the genre. She does have the range but she has to swing to hit the high notes instead of hitting them dead on. I find that a bit distracting and miss the clear as a bell like clarity Brightman typically has when singing broadway. But for pop music fans who aren't into the opera, this is a good transitional CD to have.
I enjoy Brightman's version of Schubert's Ave Maria, which is quite light and floaty (a la Bailero). I like the orchestration more than the singer in Catalani's Ebben? ne andro lontana (from La Wally). I think that aria demands more weight in rendition, and bigger voice even in this transitional setting (not seriously operatic). If I could have a CD of Maria Callas singing it with the London Symph at this arrangement's tempo, it would be divine.
I also like Brightman's version of Lascia ch'io pianga (from Handel's Rinaldo) on the par with any good soprano, really. And I actually prefer Brightman's Italian version of Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" (from Rusalka) to the celebrated Renee Flemming recording (which is in Czech). Even with her swinging into the high notes, which is less pronounce here than in La Wally aria. And I prefer Brightman's rendition of Bailero to Te Kanawa's (oops... just committed a blasphemy, but Brightman just has a clearer and lighter voice here, which I think suits the piece better than an operatic belting). And I prefer the duet version of Time To Say Goodbye over this solo one.
Anyhow, hearing Brightman's foray into the arias kick started me into exploring the real operas. I find her efforts very commendable, but I do think her style and techniques are better suited to broadway tunes. Unlike her "Time To Say Goodbye" CD which, once inserted into the stereo tend not to come back out for a long time, I enjoyed this disc more when I hadn't heard the real opera singers done the pieces in it. So I think this is a good disc to give to a pop music fan you'd like to introduce to the opera genre, but less so for those already into the operas.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The voice of an angel.
Comment: What a treat to wake up to Sarah Brightman's angelic voice in the morning. I have several cds that I alternate to wake me up in the morning, and Sarah Brightman's is one of my favorites.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good CD-lose the jacket artwork!!
Comment: Since my last review,I have listened to this album and can now give a more accurate review. The songs are great as always. But it's hard for me to appreciate them with the CD artwork. I don't need to see Sarah half naked-thank you very much.
And to one reviewer who thought it was "prudish" to make such comments. FINE-that's your opinion. But Botticelli or no Botticelli theme that this CD cover is suppose to be, I am just saying that I don't think it's in the best taste.
I saw the "Ave Maria" and "Winter Light" videos on Sarah's (...) I just thought it seemed inappropriate to be topless in both videos. Especially "Ave Maria" as a religious song.
In the final analysis, she's a great singer but the way in which you visually present yourself to the public speaks volumes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You better have very good speakers!
Comment: This is no ordinary voice in "belle canto". You must have
very good speakers,I insist!!!
Start with a mystic "AVE MARIA", followed by "La Wally" to levitate you to the clouds;
Then back to earth to a lovely "Winter Light", "Anytime Anywhere" with a vocal arrangement worthy of a great theatre
in the middle of a flower field...it is unbelievable!
Next, experience the Spanish-Morish evocative honey-voice
in the: "Alhambra". _How will anybody forget that enchanting song?
Then the sharp and metrical "Lascia Chio Pianga"
with its cry to liberty.....Wow! for the pace and the greatness!!
Followed by the chant of: "Dans la Nuit",
prepare yourself to remember and be mellow with a little nostalgia....
Then back to the skies and clouds (this time higher) to experience deep love and extasis with: "Serenade/Whow Fare is This Place"
You will then experiment love in the air.... with the song :
"O Mio Babbino Caro.
Then visit a field of the moon and flowers with "La Luna". Continue to feel the passion of "Pie Jesu" sublime and choral...
Feel the cry of a mother without her child in "Figlio Perduto"; the lyrics express her dismay and tragic tone.
In "Nessun Dorma" we can say: Brava! for her accomplishment singing a part traditionally for men.You will like this version.
Now with "Bailero" prepare to ascend to the dimension of your choice (probably the fifth) since you will fly further than the sky!
And voila!... At the end, you will be surprised with the energizing and refreshingly sad: "Time to Say Good bye"! This one... into the Bocelly domain, but in Brightman's beautiful voice and version.
Hope this was helpful, this is certainly a: must buy, must have wonderful CD.
Forgive those who can't undestand the jacket artwork,they know nothing about Modern or Classic Art.
Thanks to Sarah Brightman for her gifted voice!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Have some friends who still haven't discovered what the Sarah Brightman fuss is all about? You'll find the perfect introduction to make converts of them all in Classics, so they'll have no more excuses to remain clueless. Sporting a Botticelli-inspired image of the platinum-selling soprano on the cover, Classics is a classy anthology including highlights from three of Brightman's chart-topping releases along with seven new tracks. Songs personally selected by the diva as her favorite classical interpretations are culled from her previous blockbusters: Time To Say Goodbye, Eden, and La Luna. And whether you're a fan already in the fold or one in the making, the new material here shows the diva at the top of her form, in new renderings of "O Mio Babbino Caro" and "Nessun Dorma" (accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic)--fascinating displays of the operatic confidence she's developed over her career. Other new offerings include a touching version of Schubert's "Ave Maria,' "Winter Light," a fresh take on her signature song "Pie Jesu" (from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem). "Alhambra" and "Dans La Nuit"--a real treat, bathing the listener in Brightman's silky, sensuous vocalism--add two original titles to her famous adaptations of classical melodies to new lyrics (using Chopin's haunting E major Etude in the latter case). All told, a lovely affirmation of the directions Brightman has boldly taken in her career to date. -Sarah Chin
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