Sarah Brightman

Classics

As the following track list shows, Classics is only partly a new CD: about half the songs comes from earlier CDs, three are a new versions of previously recorded songs and only four are truely new. (The seven new recordings are marked with an asterisk below.)

This page contains:
   >   track list of the CD
   >   some notes on the songs on this CD
   >   about the cover of this CD
   >   about different versions of this CD
   >   some personal comments regarding the CD
   >   about the CD-booklet

AVE MARIA *
music: Franz Peter Schubert
lyrics: traditional
LA WALLY
music: Alfredo Catalani
lyrics: Luigi Illica
from: Timeless / Time to say goodbye
WINTER LIGHT *
music and lyrics: Eric Kaz, Linda Ronstadt, Zbigniew Preisner
ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
music: Albinio, adapted by Peterson / Soltau
lyrics: Ferraù / Brightman
from: Eden
ALHAMBRA *
music: Tarréga, adapted by Peterson
lyrics: Pirs
LASCIA CH'IO PIANGA
music and lyrics: G.F. Händel, adapted by Peterson
from: Eden
DANS LA NUIT *
music: Chopin, adapted by Peterson
lyrics: Strasse
SERENADE   --   (instrumental)
music: Peterson / Soltau
       from: La Luna
HOW FAIR THIS PLACE
music: Sergei Rachmaninov
lyrics: G. Galina
       from: La Luna
O MIO BABBINO CARO *
music: Giacomo Puccini
lyrics: Giovacchino Forzano
from: Timeless / Time to say goodbye
LA LUNA
music: Antonín Dvorák, adapted by Peterson
lyrics: Chiara Ferraù
from: La Luna
PIE JESU   --   (Sarah's solo version)   *
music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
       original version (duet)
       from: Surrender
FIGLIO PERDUTO
music: Ludwig van Beethoven, adapted by Soltau
lyrics: Chiara Ferraù
from: La Luna
NESSUN DORMA *
music: Giacomo Puccini, adapted by Peterson
lyrics: Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni
from: Eden
BAÏLÈRO
music and lyrics: Trad. adapted by Peterson
from: Eden
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE -- (Sarah's solo version)
music and lyrics: L. Quarantotto, F. Sartori, F. Peterson
from: Eden -- Japanese version

The CD is released by Angel Records in November 2001.

The CD-booklet does not contain the lyrics, so I am told, which is a shame. Gathering the lyrics of old songs together with lyrics I received from visitors of my web pages has enabled a me to make the pages:
===> All lyrics on a single page (17.2 kb)
===> All lyrics and translations on a single page (30.1 kb)

Notes

Songs marked with an asterisk are "new recordings" according to the official Sarah Brightman Web site. Three of these are new versions of old songs, namely songs 9, 11 and 13; if there are (small) differences in the lyrics, this mentioned at the respective page.
Song 9, O mio babbino caro, is here a studio version, not the live version from Timeless / Time to say goodbye.
Song 11, Pie Jesu, is originally a duet (follow the link above), but at the La Luna concert Sarah sang this song solo. The CD contains a solo version (recorded in a studio?).
Song 13, Nessun dorma, is slightly longer than the version on the "Eden" album, and it features a female choir.
Eight songs are thus marked as old songs and I therefore assume that the lyrics are the same as on the previous CDs.
Song 8 is listed as Serenade / How Fair This Place. It is, like on "La Luna" the instrumental piece Serenade leading into How Fair This Place.
The Serenade on this CD is the 1:16 minute version of the non-European release of La Luna (not the 0:50 minute version of the European release).

JPEG version of cover (54.5 kb) GIF version of cover (59.9 kb)

Cover of the Classics CD

Originally I had another image as CD cover on these pages. That picture I found back in 2001 on the official Sarah Brightman website. But it appears that the CD itself got a slightly different image on the cover I had never noticed this, but then again the difference is difficult to see: on the image I had, Sarah where two white(!) flowers in her hair, one on either side of her head, whereas on the real images there are no flowers to be seen. This difference was mentioned to me by Gábor Tocsik early 2007, and he sent me the comparision image on the right.

Other versions of Classics

This CD was released outside Europe in November 2001, meaning not only USA/Canada, but also for example Singapore.

Again, it appears, different countries are getting (slightly) different versions of a CD by Sarah .... As this list is getting rather large, it has been moved to a separate page.

A special European release was originally scheduled for March 2002, but was delayed until end 2006. The European release contains some songs from the above version, but also several other songs. To be exact, the title of the album is slightly different: it is called Classics: The Best of Sarah Brightman.

Comments

The history of announcements regarding the release of this CD on the official Sarah Brightman Web site have been more than confusing, but in November 2001 a CD was released outside Europe (a European release ws scheduled for March 2002 but seems to have been cancelled!?).

On the CD-case there is a circular sticker with some 32 teath (like a star), so I am told, that bears the following text:: This essential collection blends 7 gorgeous new recordings with a selection of Sarah's favorite classics. Includes "Ave Maria", "Nessun Dorma", "Pie Jesu", and her solo version of the international hit "Time to say goodbye".
(Judging from the spelling of "favorite" instead of "favourite", the sticker is American.)

: As the track list above shows, Classics is only partly a new CD: about half the songs comes from earlier CDs, three are a new versions of previously recorded songs and only four are truely new.
: Why Sarah???; Why can you not come up with an entirely new CD??; There must be more songs around that you can sing!?; Please do not try to make easy money over the backs of your fans.

Anyway, only four new songs, and three oldies in a new version, on Classics first made me wait for the European release, but that release will not take place. Perhaps for the many negative reactions on the rather limitted number of original work on the album? So after all, I did get the "non-European release" so to say, just to have my collection of CDs more complete.

Note that the title of the CD is actually not very apt: several of the songs on Classics are not at all classical pieces of music (songs 3 and 5, for example, are ballads) nor are all pieces classic in the sense of say more than a century old. The use of the word probably more indicates Sarah's feelings towards these songs.

About the CD-booklet

The CD-booklet does not contain any lyrics which I think is a shame. There are, however, some pictures of Sarah in it, but Sarah did not put many clothes on for these photos. Personally I think these photos are not very flattering.


The booklet has also a line in Spanish and one in French, given here with a translation.
The Spanish words are from the song Alhambra and reads:: > Viste mil amores nacer en tus entrañas, luces que acarician desde tus ventanas, despechada Alhambra.; = You saw a thousand loves be born within you, lights that shine from your windows, despaired Alhambra.
The French words is from the song Dans la Nuit and reads:: > Et quand dans la nuit tout s'endormit, je vis les cieux devant mes yeux fermés.; = And when in the night all fell asleep, I saw the skies in front of my closed eyes.

With thanks to Geoffrey Kidd, Wilson, Raymond Lam, Ed Mantel, Vivienne, Ernest Wang Tian Long, Víctor Piña, Shauna Howard, Donath Pirs, Bruno Deschênes, Robert Edwards, Saul Pena, Gábor Tocsik for help and various bits of info.

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