[.ca] Trees They Grow So High

Think before you buy:
Just because you have liked all of her recordings doesn't mean you will like this one. I enjoy filk , folk, and classical music but I still did not like this CD. To me all of the tracks on this sound the same... The songs are very slow, very high, and somewhat uninteligible. This is not a Brightman version of John Renborn, Leife and Leige, etc. Think before you buy.

Only for the Old-Fashioned at heart:
Sorry about the title to my review, folks, but that's how I feel. I simply do not play the cd. I bought it to complete my actual Sarah Brightman "Album" collection, with the light hopes that there might be something worth listening to. I was definitely disappointed. Yes, there is Sarah singing in her high Soprano voice, but alas, no opera-diva here. These songs are pure folk songs arranged revisited a la helium-inhaling Brightman. Don't get me wrong, but "The trees..." does not rank very high in such a successful woman's discography, compared to her last 3 cds. I will admit I like the simplicity of the front cover. It is of tall tall trees yes, plus fall-colored leaves. Sarah is Pretty for such a cd cover too, but it goes nowhere further than that really. I do recognize track #1. Isn't it the theme song to the once very popular children's show "The Friendly Giant"? It's smart how Sarah and her "At the time" producer John Fraser decided to put lots of songs on the cd, but they are really short and are certainly not sing-a-long songs. This cd is truly unique, but I don't know when would it be a good time to play it. We'll let you be the boss for that. May I add that Sarah Brightman has come a long way, and I give her credit for doing the many styles of music so far. As much as this cd sits untouched in my collection, it does has its own place in the tower, and who know, it may be worth a lot some day. I will not get rid of it, and that is because I went through enough debating before actually taking it along with Sarah's other (No-hit-wonder) "The songs that got away" to the cash that day. So, if you are really wanting this CD, go ahead and grab it up. Don't let me stop you, but I said my piece. Hope this review helped you.

Essentially Sarah:
Since I have all of Sarah Brightman's CDs and DVDs I have some basis to compare. Although I love all of her music and consider it so perfect that it is difficult rank the various albums, this is one of my favorites. It is essentially Sarah herself, beautiful, dignified and majestic.

Classical Singing Not Best for Folk Songs.:
Clear dulcet pear-shaped tones, every note clear as a bell; but so deathly artificial, limited, cramped. The songs or similar ones are easily available on CDs rendered by the likes of Jeannie Robertson, Phoebe Smith, Norma Waterson, Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, June Tabor, Kate Rusby to name perhaps the most prominent English/Scot women folk singers. What benefit then to the material is a churchy, operatic warble with parlour piano accompaniment adapted from Benjamin Britten's adaptations of genuine folk tunes? Is it to display technical skill? Is it to demonstrate a certain kind of class? Is it to show that traditional classical/folk transformation really works? Brightman's "O Waly, Waly" is not bad, and parts of some other tracks are tolerable when classical affections do not take over. But any good folk/classical fusion must be more than the obselete (but still used) standby of normalizing a folk tune into classical mode by regularizing its time, smoothing away progressions that offend traditional classical theories of harmony, and adding classical ornamentation. This bowdlerization and stylistic cleansing produces a weak and silly parody of the original. Now I certainly don't hate all classical singing. I've very much enjoyed Sarah Brightman's singing on other albums. But this CD goes wrong. If it has any value it is only because Brightman has a magnificent voice no matter what or how she sings, and the accompaniment has a least the virture of simplicity.

A beautiful CD from Sarah Brightman:
I read many reviews before I bought this album. Many of them do not encourage you to buy it, but I totally disagree. This is the only CD so far that shows who Sarah Brightman " the soprano " is. Her voice is perfect, tuned and filled with melody. I own all of her CD's and this one is as special as the rest of them. Her voice is not "young", she was already 26 at the time; it sounds young because of the high notes. I would definitely recommend this CD to those fans of Sarah Brightman and/or anyone who likes Classical Music.

• Early One Morning
• Come You Not from Newcastle?
• Sweet Polly Oliver
• Trees They Grow So High
• Ash Grove
• O Waly, Waly
• How Sweet the Answer
• Plough Boy
• Voici le Printemps
• Last Rose of Summer
• Belle, Est au Jardin d'Amour
• Fileuse
• Dear Harp of My Country!
• Little Sir William
• O Can Ye Sew Cushions?
• Oft in the Stilly Night
• Quand J'Étais Chez Non Pére
• There's None to Soothe
• Oliver Cromwell