Sarah Brightman - It's a beautiful day

Un bel di, vedremo
Levarsi un fil di fumo
Sull'estremo con fin del mare
E poi la nave appare

With every new day
Your promises fade away
It's a fine day to see
Though the last day for me
It's a beautiful day

Un bel di, vedremo
Levarsi un fil di fumo
Sull'estremo con fin del mare
E poi la nave appare

With every new day
Your promises fade away
It's a fine day to see
Though the last day for me
It's a beautiful day

It's the last day for me
It's a beautiful day

It's the last day for me
It's a beautiful day

Music: Puccini, adapted by Christopher von Deylen, Frank Peterson
Lyrics: Frank Peterson, Sarah Brightman, Christopher von Deylen

From: Harem (2003).
and from: Live from Las Vegas (2004).
and from: Classics - European release (2006).

Source of the lyrics: thanks to Christian Colding and Attila, with some corrections by me, Mark Bliss and Denis Pitter.
Mark also provided the detailed credits of music and lyrics.

In an article from EMI Canada it says:

Brightman even reaches into the world of grand opera, spiriting away the melody of Puccini's "Un bel di" from Madame Butterfly to spark "It's a Beautiful Day"

Thus, the Italian lines in the lyrics are from "Un Bel Dì". The first two lines are spoken by Chiara Ferrau, the "narrator" [thanks to Mark Bliss for telling me]. The other Italian lines are sung by Sarah in an operatic way. Jonathan Kunaifi provided a translation, which I adapted a little:

Un bel di, vedremo Levarsi un fil di fumo Sull'estremo con fin del mare E poi la nave appare

One fine day, we'll notice A thread of smoke arising On the far horizon above the sea And then the ship appearing

Denis Pitter adds:

Sarah's "Un Bel Dì" is a cover of Schiller's "Ein Schöner Tag", featured in the album "Weltreise" and sung by the German (?) Opera singer Isgaard; the author of the music is Christopher von Deylen and he is scheduled in the credits of the booklet.

Sarah's version of the song is more complete in a way, because she adds new lyrics (With every new day/Your promises fade away/It's a fine day to see/Though the last day for me/It's a beautiful day) and she permeates the song with a more intense arabic feeling. She also sings the italian lines in a more comprehensible way than Isgaard.

 

Again, the music as has an Arabic feal with a dance beat through it, which makes a very odd combination, I think.

 
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created: 4 May 2003
last modified: 19 May 2011