Symphony

Symphony: Live in Vienna (CD & DVD) [Amaray]
$24.98
The CD and DVD of the Sarah Brightman concert in Vienna is
absolutely amazing. One of the best she has ever done.
You feel as if you are right there the sound and picture
quality is the best. The concert leaves you feeling
happy and excited that you were able to experience
this awesome performance.

Symphony
$18.98
When I bought Sarah Brightman's Symphony DVD, it came with a sticker saying she had become the world's best-selling soprano of all-time. Then I watched it and thought: She's still in her forties and still improving. How much better can the best get?

Try this: Close your eyes while playing Brightman's Symphony DVD so you won't be distracted by the beautiful lighting in the gorgeous cathedral in Vienna. Just listen to the audio. Then listen to Leontyne Price, Cecilia Bartoli, Maria Callas, Kiri Te Kanawa, anybody, and decide for yourself. Is Sarah Brightman great, or what?

The title song, SYMPHONY, and ATTESA are beyond beautiful. Brightman, the pioneer of popularized classics and classicized pop, has done it again, adding her own lyrics to five of the fifteen songs. Like NELLA FANTASIA, a Brightman-introduced vocal, here's new material for Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli, and Paul Potts.

But, more than anything, this concert is about duets: Two inspiring classical duets with Alessandro Safina (CANTO DELLA TERRA and SARAI QUI), two rock-style duets with Chris Thompson (I WILL BE WITH YOU and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) and a moving Spanish rhythm piece with Fernando Lima (PASION).

The song that got the best audience response was RUNNING. Originally done at an athletic event in Japan, RUNNING is the latest Brightman song to be introduced in athletic settings. In 1992, at the Barcelona Olympics, Brightman ran down the concrete stadium steps in spike heels to sing AMIGOS PARA SIEMPRE with Jose Carreras. In 1995 and 1996 came A QUESTION OF HONOUR and TIME TO SAY GOODBYE (with Bocelli), both sung at boxing matches in Germany. Brightman's version of NESSUN DORMA was chosen to launch the televised 2002 Major League Baseball playoffs. And who can forget her contribution to the magnificent opening of the Beijing Olympics?

Sarah Brightman is still up and RUNNING.

Symphony (25) Favorites
$4.98
When I purchased this CD I expected an album of average performances and OK sound. What I got though was 25 superbly clear stereo tracks rendered by quite competent orchestras.

Points of criticism here are minor ones.
Six Beethoven excerpts and only one of Brahms; an example of his magnificent 4th Symphony being conspicuously absent.

No actual liner notes, and the two pages of contents are printed in an exceedingly small font.

Hearing these favorite strains whets the appetite for the complete works, so the job of a "sampler" is well-fulfilled here (not a criticism!).

In summary, you will find this melange of edits from the VOX catalog most satisfying indeed!

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 79:02


Also recommended:
25 CLASSICAL DANCE FAVORITES is a lively collection of familiar music.

Symphony
$14.95
The central matter of Jude Morgan's "Symphony" is a romantic, but eventually failed, marriage between Hector Berlioz and actress Harriet Smithson, who was Berlioz' muse and the inspiration for his "Symphonie Fantastique." The tricks that Morgan uses to tell this story include shifts in tone, chronology, point of view, and style - some, although by no means all, of the modern literary arsenal. Unfortunately, in this writer's hands, the various narrative devices that he uses seem rather complicated and "precious." This is one book that would have benefited from less cleverness on the part of its author.

Readers who are interested in the lives of the Romantic composers may also want to check out the fine biography (it reads better than most novels) titled "Chopin's Funeral," by Benita Eisler.