Encore

Sarah Brightman (Artist), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Artist), Richard Rodgers (Artist), Burton Lane (Artist), Peter Greenwell (Artist), Stephen Sondheim (Artist), George Gershwin (Artist), Giacomo Puccini (Artist), Harry Rabinowitz (Artist), Michael Reed (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca Broadway
• ASIN: B00005KBBX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,177 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > A to B > Brightman, Sarah

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In a career that's veered from '70s pop chanteuse to Broadway star and neo-operatic diva, Sarah Brightman has brought a critics-be-damned sense of dramatic scale to nearly every project she's tackled. As the title suggests, the tracks here are largely culled from her Songs That Got Away and Surrender song anthologies, although they do include four previously unreleased outtakes from those collections. Her 1998 recording of the title song from ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind succeeds by emphasizing its melodic grace with a deft, airy touch, while the remainder rescue worthy songs from obscure or failed musicals. From Lerner and Lane's 1959 Carmelina comes the lovely "One More Walk Around the Garden." Stephen Sondheim's youthful 1954 debut, Saturday Night, yields a sprightly take on "What More Do I Need," while an operatic reading of "In the Mandarin's Orchid Garden," from the Gershwins' unproduced 1929 East Is West, is also included. If the selection leans a little too heavily on the Lloyd Webber connection elsewhere (including Italian versions of "Guardami (With One Look)" from Sunset Boulevard and "Piano (Memory)" from Cats delivered in her patently restraint-free soprano), they're only reminders that shrewdness has hardly been the least of Brightman's talents. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Part 2 of Surrender, May 2, 2002

By	Anthony Morelli "Woofbear" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am not surprised that the cd is like this. The material is indeed recycled, and me, not believing until I actually have the cd, had to fulfil my curiosity.

I don't mind having Encore, for its new material, but it kind of hurts the wallet when you learn that the songs you paid lots for are already on another 2 cds you already own. The album would have worked out a lot better if there was a new version of La Wally, where Sarah doesn't get drowned out in the end. It's too bad, that was a lovely song to perform on her cd Time to Say Goodbye.

Whistle down the wind is indeed a beautiful song, but it sort of ties the knot between old and new material. I mean, all the songs are older, less known and less in demand. I wish that there were lots of photos and some collaboration with Frank Peterson on Encore. The cd does seem cold, lost and wishing for something really new and enticing.

The cover is pretty nice, though. I love gothic costume, and I think the net veil over Sarah's head suits an album like this, or a Classical cd. This photo should have been reworked and used for a future Brightman cd cover. I am not sorry for buying Encore, because to update my Sarah Brightman collection is fine.
The album is definitely for the diehard Brightman cd collector.

One terribly bad thing...I absolutely dislike Chi Il bel sogno Di Doretta. This song is so old-fashioned, done by Sarah. This was done when Sarah was less experienced in her Bel-Canto style.

So, I spoke my word. You decided now, whether or not you want the cd.
Hope my review has helped you.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great CD, but nothing new., April 23, 2002

By	"rococoms" (Taipei Taiwan) - See all my reviews

Sadly, as with much of Sarah Brightman's recent record releases, this album is not much more than recycled material from her sucessful European album Surrender: The Unexpected Songs. If you like the variation on the Andrew Lloyd Webber songs (Songs from Cats and Sunset Boulevard in Italian etc), or really want a more substantial version of this album, I would highly suggest a copy of the Surrender import, as you will find it much more musically satisfying. Like La Luna (recycled material from her '95 Import Fly) Classics (stuff from many other albums) or The Andrew Lloyd Webber Album (recycled material from another import), this is nothing new. I guess the next step is for As I Came of Age to be resold as "The Early Years" and Dive to be resold as "Aqua". At this rate, maybe Sarah won't have to ever record a new album again!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I have to agree, April 28, 2002

By A Customer

I have to agree with the above review. As an early fan of Sarah Brightman, I have almost every one of these songs already on previous CD's; the same recordings and everything. While she truly has a beautiful voice, I just don't think it's very fair to her earlier fans when they want something new and fresh to listen to. Everything on this CD is recycled; I could have made it at home on my own computer! There are no new tracks and nothing very enticing about this CD to make me buy it. If Sarah decides to start recording some new songs instead of continuously marketing her old stuff, I might, just might, buy it then. But only until then.