Sarah Brightman

Classics -- history of announcements

The news items on the official Sarah Brightman Web site regarding the CD Classics have been very confusing, to say the least.
Here are the successive news items, with some comments and notes by me, which I keep just "for the record".

 

For some time in July 2001, the Official Site said:

 

After finishing her most successful LA LUNA tour with nearly 100 concerts all together Sarah Brightman returned straight into the studio to record her new album which is due to be released world wide end of 2001 through EMI RECORDS.

 

The title and track listing of the album are - for now - a secret...

 

Then came the confusion:

 

 

 

       8 August 2001

 

Quotes from the news section:

 

After her most successful LA LUNA album and tour Sarah Brightman went straight back into the studio and is currently recording her new album ANGELICA. The album is due to be released world wide on November 6th. More news will follow later this year!

 

On October 2nd, 2001, Sarah Brightman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a classical concert at the famous Herod Atticus Odeon in Athens. Because of it's beauty and historical background Sarah Brightman chose the Odeon to introduce her new album to the world. The concert will be filmed for TV, DVD and internet broadcasting.

 

The picture on the right (35kb), found on the official Sarah Brightman Web site, is the poster of the concert in Athens, named "The Classical Collection Concert".

 

"Angelica" is a very appropriate title for a CD of our Angel of Music, is it not?

 

The above two messages were in the news section of the Official Site on 8 August, which prompted me to make this page. Subsequently I have had to make several changes and updates, as you can see below.

 

 

 

       10 August 2001

 

When I looked again on 10 August both news items were gone again ...

 

 

 

       28 August 2001

 

Then on 28 August 2001 these messages appeared:

 

The release date of Sarah Brightman's upcoming album Angelica has been postponed to Spring 2002. [A reason is not mentioned.]

 

Due to the postponement of the album release, the scheduled concert in Athens is not going to take place on October 2nd, 2001. Sarah Brightman and her management are currently working on a new date next year coinciding with the world wide album release. [The concert poster is not given anymore.]

 

Problems can always arise, I'd say, though it is a bit of a disappointment.

 

 

 

       21 September 2001

 

On this date the entry on the postponement of the release of Angelica has been made empty ...

And this new news item has appeared:

 

Just in time for the Christmas season Sarah Brightman is going to release her new album CLASSICS. The album is a journey through favourite classical songs, from Schubert's "Ave Maria" to Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro". The album contains newly recorded songs such as Tarrega's "Alhambra" as well as classical highlights from her previous recordings. Sarah's voice and Frank Peterson's production once again turn each song into an unforgettable experience and the album into a unique collection.

 

 

Release date for territories outside Europe will be November 8th 2001. For Europe release is set for March 1st 2002.

 

Why this change???

As the postponed concert in Greece, meant for the launch of Angelica, was called "Classical Collection Concert", I guess that Classics is merely the new title of the Angelica CD.

Apparently the CD is going to be a mix of song from previous CDs and some new pieces. I would imagine that Sarah has a large enough choice in classical music to come up with a CD full of for her new songs.

 

And why can they not release the CD worldwide in the same month???

 

 

 

       27 September 2001

 

On this day, the official site published the CD-cover of Classics in the form of a large JPEG image (1192x1228 pixels; 128 kb), which I used to create a CD-cover image for use on my pages.

 

The image is a very nice one indeed!!
At first sight it looks like a negative (inverted) image, but if you look at Sarah's face you see this cannot be the case.
Whatever they did, Sarah is, as always, very beautiful!!

 

Anyway, it seems the title of the CD is now well established at Classics. Wonder what the contents will be like ...

 

 

 

       16 October 2001

 

At Amazon.com it says that the release date of Classics is 20 November 2001 (sic); no track list is given.
The official site still has 8 Nov. as release date outside Europe and March 2002 for Europe.

 

 

 

       18 October 2001

 

The official site publishes the track list of Classics, which shows that half of the songs is a new recording and the other half is from old CDs ... more of a collection CD than a truely new CD, but ok.

 

 

 

       14 November 2001

 

Copied the introduction to Classics from the Angel Records web site given below.

 

 
Hopefully there will be only one version of Classics released all around the world, thus avoiding the confusion and irritation that resulted from the several versions of the previous CDs La Luna and Eden !!

We'll just have to wait and see ...

 
Extract from what the Angel Records web site writes about the CD, copied on 14 November 2001:

Sarah Brightman: Classics

The image seen evokes the antique loveliness of Botticelli's Venus while simultaneously transporting you to an evocative futuristic vision... the shimmering, crystalline sound is stunningly in the moment. The voice of Sarah Brightman is back and it soars to new heights on Sarah Brightman: CLASSICS, the essential collection showcasing the soprano voice from Angel Records that blends exciting new material with a selection of Sarah's favorite classical songs from her albums Eden and La Luna, including her solo version of the international hit "Time To Say Goodbye."

Sarah Brightman: CLASSICS is the ultimate Sarah Brightman experience, one that begins with the sexy, smoldering image of Sarah on the album cover, hinting at the pleasures within. Through Sarah's inimitable soprano, an edgy, here-and-now sensuality emerges from the sublime classical roots of these songs.

Sarah Brightman: CLASSICS introduces the brand new recordings, "Ave Maria," "Winter Light" and a new performance of "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, which was written especially for Sarah. Two other new songs, "Alhambra" and "Dans La Nuit," are original Sarah Brightman adaptations, featuring newly-written lyrics sung to classical melodies by Tarréga and Chopin. These tracks plus new recordings of "O Mio Babbino Caro" and "Nessun Dorma" feature Sarah singing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to the title track from Time To Say Goodbye, Sarah has also included "La Wally," from Time To Say Goodbye. Encore selections from Eden are "Lascia Ch'io Pianga," "Anytime, Anywhere" and "Baïlero," and from La Luna come "Serenade/How Fair This Place," "Figlio Perduto" and the title track.

Sarah Brightman: CLASSICS weaves an irresistible spell with a unique collection of her favorite classical pieces. This is the ultimate celebration of Sarah's beautiful soprano voice.

With thanks to Geoffrey Kidd, Carol Faroni, Antti Korpinen, Adam Wolfe, Víctor Piña, Beth Eshelman for info and help.

<=== Classics page

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created: 19 October 2001
last modified: 18 April 2013