Sarah Brightman - A Winter Symphony
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Free Music Notes for A Winter Symphony
Free Music Review: A Joy of Holiday's Desiring
Hit: 4 Stars
I've read a lot of mixed reviews on this CD, from Brightman fans and non-fans alike. But in my personal opinion, it's a superb album, and I'm thrilled she finally produced a holiday CD.
I'm giving it 4 of 5 stars because I do believe it could have been better, but that by no means implies that I hate the CD in anyway. I've just followed Sarah for the past 10 years since I was a little girl. This woman was my introduction to opera and classical cross over music! That being said, I know what the "best" and "most" could sound like from her; this isn't it.
I really wish three things would have been done with this CD: Sarah singing, "The First of May" (as she did on the Symphony tour, for pre-Christmas dates), and she also included a version of her singing "Carol of the Bells" or her opera-arranged version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (another pre-Christmas Symphony tour song).
A few notes:
"Arrival" -- based off of the ABBA track by the same name, it opens the CD in a very unqiue and interesting fashion. I never thought the day would come when I would hear my favourite soprano covering the quartet from Sweden. The thing is, she doesn't do it in a corney fashion either. It's tasteful and I think she does ABBA justice. Her voice also lends the track an unearthly fantistical ring to the track, making you "see" the song as you "hear" it.
"Colder than Winter" -- if you ever had your heart broken by anyone for any reason, you will releate to this song. Enough said.
"Ave Maria" w/ Fernando Lima -- I seriously think this woman loves this song, because this is the THIRD (or more, who knows/remembers) arrangement she's has recorded of it. I have all of Sarah's releases and, while I welcome this addition to the CD, I seriously wish she would just CHILL on the hail Marys. I don't think Fernando Lima has a great voice, it's acceptable, but he's no Andrea Bocelli or Josh Groban, and he's completely not a Nick Garrett or Russell Watson by any stretch of the imagination. So what saves this track? The arrangement. It's beautiful and DIFFERENT. The last minute of the song, especially. Peterson is this verion's saving grace! Take the "Ave Maria" you think you know, to a new place. It's either really fantastic, or really brave. You be the judge.
"I Believe in Father Christmas" -- she also sings this on the "Symphony" tour before the holidays, if you are lucky enough to see her in person. It's fabulous! Oh I love love love this song. It's a unqiue addition to any Christmas CD that doesn't get played enough, and for Sarah, that's a blessing for her album!
Free Music Review: A WINTER SYMPHONY.....NOT A CHRISTMAS SYMPHONY
Hit: 4 Stars
Beautifully produced, arranged, and performed is "A Winter Symphony", the latest bauble from the ever lovely Ms. Brightman. As been noted in previous reviews, Sarah has indeed been singing more & more in her ethereal, "little-girl" - Kate Bush voice and not so much in the fuller, "operatic"-style many people have come to expect from her. Whilst I have admired Sarah's post Lloyd Webber recordings starting with "Dive" all the way through the dramatic & sexy "Symphony", and have been amazed at how she has continually studied & trained her voice into a fuller instrument, a part of me has always admired her pure, almost treble-like quality & timber that I first heard in the original Pie Jesu recording from "Requiem", and have always enjoyed when she has employed that sound in her various albums. So I was completely surprised & pleased when first hearing this lovely & seductive new work. Beautiful and delicate versions of Silent Night, In the Bleak Mid Winter, and Child in a Manger are sung in such an innocent and child-like way that they almost sound like they were recorded in the mid-80's, as Sarah employs her delicate child-like sound. In contrast, her cover of ABBA's Arrival is all Euro-pop and stunningly produced, as is the beautiful Ave Maria with Lima. Not quite "Christmas" but fitting into the Winter themed-concept are lovely versions of Colder than Winter & Neil Diamond's I've Been This Way Before, beautifully crafted pop perfections. On the other hand, skip the weak and lifeless I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day and the Gounod Ave Maria, Sarah's voice sounding surprisingly strained in the latter. My only other complaint with this work is that the bonus tracks featured on the Barnes & Noble edition should have been included as part of the basic album as those three tracks are among the strongest, including a great cover of Lennon/Ono's Happy Christmas (War Is Over).
Again, this is a lovely album to be played throughout the winter months, in addition to the Christmas season.
Remember to purchase the Barnes & Noble edition!!!
Luigi ~ nyc
Free Music Review: Sarah For the Holidays...
Hit: 4 Stars
English soprano Sarah Brightman returns with her unique blend of classical opera/pop crossover for the second time in 2008 with A Winter Symphony, a companion CD to previous 2008 release, Symphony.
Despite the absence of the words "Christmas" or "holiday" in the CD's title, that is what A Winter Symphony is: a Christmas CD thinly masked as a "winter" CD. Yet, as a Sarah Brightman fan, I was thrilled to see that she was finally releasing a Christmas-oriented CD. Sarah's angelic soprano voice would be perfectly suited to many holiday classics, yet I found surprisingly small amount of these classics on the album.
Winter Symphony's track listing is somewhat obscure and unexpected for a holiday/winter/Christmas album. Each song is a cover of a previous holiday/winter song, but many of them are not familiar to the average listener. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," and "Amazing Grace" are paired with "I Believe in Father Christmas," "In the Bleak Midwinter," and even the Abba song "Arrival." This eclectic list of songs has the potential to bring a stronger sense of originality to the album, but threatens to scare away potential listeners because of the unfamiliar territory.
This CD takes risks, but the risks ultimately pay off. Brightman delivers exquisite vocals that paint a beautiful motif of winter. I truly could feel the snow falling from the sky and the cold winter opening around me. There were even moments I could have sworn that I smelled the faint scent of pine. Each song in the album also manages to have a distinct sound, which tends to be a problem when it comes to holiday/ChristmasCDs.
Even though at times the music borders on the cheesy, A Winter Symphony appeals to a wider range of listeners than all of Brightman's previous albums and carries the potential to be her best selling one yet. Fans of Brightman will eagerly snatch up her latest creation, while fans of Christmas music will flock to it. This is an ideal album for getting in the holiday spirit without having to listen to yet another rendition of the same Christmas carols.
Free Music Review: A Diva's Divine Christmas
Hit: 4 Stars
This album came as a complete surprise to me, and that's just right for a season that's meant to be full of surprises. I've been a fan of Sarah Brightman's pop-opera style for a long, long time -- to me, she is the penultimate crossover artist of all time --, and since I love collecting (and listening to!) Christmas/December holiday albums, this was a must-have.
The selections are a wonderful jumbled-up bag of very different songs, from the traditional fare like "Silent Night" and "In the Bleak Midwinter" (to which she gives an especially ethereal, child-like lilt on the last verse) to classical standards like Bach/Gounod's Ave Maria and Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", to unusual Winter/Christmas-themed selections like Abba'a "Arrival", the rollicking, Big Band-flavored "I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday" and Emerson, Lake and Palmer's very adult and knowing "I Believe in Father Christmas", which she gives an especially knowing, almost tragically disillusioned rendering, as if it were the words of a little girl whose childhood dreams have melted like snow, when faced by the realities of adult life.
Some of the sound engineering seemed a little uneven and I would have liked more of the broad orchestral sound that characterized her "Harem" and "Symphony" albums, but this is a delightful blend of songs which I will treasure for years and trill along to as I decorate my house for the holidays.
Free Music Review: It's a Winter album, not exactly for Christmas...
Hit: 4 Stars
Just hold it before you pick up the stone, listen first.
True, this album is released just before holiday season, but it does not mean it's necessary to be a Merry Christmas album. I think that's the general miss-expectation about how this album should be like.
It's a S.B. album, you can expect the big production, high standard selections of pieces and it does represent the "winter" feeling, more or less.
I made a huge mistake to order a copy from AMAZON.com, perhaps I can return it and get a refund later.
Barns & Noble has an Exclusive release with 15 songs total plus a DVD. 6 dollars more.
Boarders also has an Exclusive release with 1 bonus song but not included in the Barns & Noble release.
Yeah, I am such a sucker and bought both releases, one for each of my cars. That leave the AMAZON.com release totally "meaningless".
This album is OK, it's not as impressive as Symphony to be honest, but much better than the past "Classic" ( the one that recycles the old songs she has recorded in the past ).
I probably will listen to it through out the winter season, but when spring comes, it's likely the time to switch to something else. Perhaps she can release a spring album......