summer - summer (2003)

If you like Sarah Brightman, Norah Jones, Emma Shapplin, Izzy [Isobel Cooper] then you shall one to go one step further and listen [and surely love] Summer [Summer Watson]: if you are even more refined and have adopted a love for quality vocal queens like Méav and Loreena McKennit... then you will absolutely love this singer who shall bring summer into you life with her voice and the expertise with which she executes the pieces on this CD.

In the United Kingdom the banner read that this CD was "an exquisite mix of classical, world, and pop music." As I always do with debut artists, I said to myself, buy it!!! I am so happy I did... oh Lord, what a voice! This is a genuine voice [no artificial stretching and straining in the studio] belonging to the Scuola di Bel Canto. Ah... how beautiful indeed.

Some songs are surely familiar because we've heard others do them, such as Nella Fantasia [Sarah Brightman, Eden]. How wonderful that first verse rings, it sets your mind wandering:


In my fantasy I imagine a world of justice
Where everyone lives in peace and honesty
I dream of a place to live that is always free
Free as the clouds in the sky/Full of deep humanity.


Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo's original title was "Concierto Aranjuez," for guitar and strings, and it's been done by Miles Davis on Sketches Of Spain, Sarah Brightman on Time To Say Goodbye, and Alabina on Alabina II. Here, it's Aranjuez Ma Pensée with new lyrics. A classic tune done afresh with Palabra De Honor [Word of Honour], has a Spanish flavour with the accompanying strings, guitar, and flute. And what is that word of honour? "I will not leave you/I will never leave you."

Berceuse from Benjamin Godard's Jocelyn opera is sung in French and really highlights Summer's voice. The melody from Mal Di Luna (Moonsickness) is taken from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and describes the overpowering effects the moon has on one. Tutta La Vita (All My Life) is a duet with tenor Marcelo Alvarez, who has a rich voice equivalent to Andrea Bocelli.

The melody of Sposa Son Disprezzata (Husband, I Am Despised) is from Vivaldi, and the wife asks her husband what she has done to deserve his contempt? She is faithful yet insulted, but still loves him. Morgen (Tomorrow) is taken from a Richard Strauss composition, which features great strings and violin solo. Summer does a great job in conveying the painful realization of the futility of violence and the fragility of humanity in Fragile. The Spanish guitar from Sting's original is replicated, with a touch of sax in places. She doesn't use her opera voice here but joined with strings, it's just as wonderful. Mesicku a Nebi Hlubokem is not only Czech for Song To The Moon but is what Sarah Brightman used for the title track to her La Luna album. Same music. It comes from Antonin Dvorak's opera Rusalka (The Water Nymph), which he wrote in Prague after returning from America. She hits those dramatic high notes with the same aplomb as Brightman. Her other English-langauge cover is Cleo Laine's Cavatina.




T r a c k L i s t i n g

[01] Nella Fantasia, for voice & orchestra, adapted to Gabriel's Oboe, Composed by Ennio Morricone
[02] Aranjuez, Ma Pensée, for voice & guitar, Composed by Joaquin Rodrigo
[03] Palabra de Honor (Word of Honour) Composed by Baliardo, Reyes
[04] Berceuse (from Jocelyn, opera) Composed by Benjamin Godard
[05] Mal Di Luna, Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor (Moonlight), Op. 27/2 Adagio sostenuto Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
[06] Tutta la Vita, song, Composed by Matteo Saggese (featuring Marcelo Alvarez, tenor)
[07] Sposa Son Disprezzata (from Ottone in Villa, opera in 3 acts, RV 729), Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
[08] Cantique de Jean Racine, for 4-part chorus & organ (or orchestra), Op. 11, Composed by Gabriel Faure
[09] Morgen (Dort, wo der Morgenstern hergeht), song for voice & piano, Op. 46/4 (TrV 199/4), Composed by Richard Strauss
[10] Fragile, Composed by Sting
[11] Song To The Moon (from Rusalka, opera, B. 203 Op. 114), Composed by Antonin Dvorak
[12] Cavatina (from OST The Deer Hunter), Composed by Stanley Myers



summer - summer (2003)
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