Sometimes when you read reviews about Sarah's albums you hear about them being "Over Produced". This album is an example of simple production, and is different than any other album Sarah has done. I would have to say the simplistic production of this album truly captures the beauty and power of Sarah's voice.

The reason I do not recommend this album to everyone, is because it does not contain the "Pop/Techno" feel of Sarah's other albums. This album features classic European folk songs, sung just by Sarah, and accompanied by a piano.

This is a great relaxation CD to help you unwind from the stresses of the day; simple and calm.

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.

This album has gotten some strange reviews. To the person who said a piano sounds absurd if it is the only instrument in the studio, I hope you've never attempted to listen to any of Schubert's 600 + songs. In the realm of composed music, the very definition of a song is a short work for voice and piano alone.

Although Britten occasionally makes reference to folk material (he evokes a stringed instrument in the piano accompaniment for "The foggy foggy dew") he makes no attempt to re-create a historically accurate folk-style accompaniment. These "arrangements" are not in a parlor style, and do not try to make the harmonies conform to a classical idea. On the contrary, Britten expands the implied harmonic vocabulary while keeping true to the original melodies in order to create a new piece of art that is uniquely his own.

As for the singing, those who are normally offended by Sarah Brightman's vocalism might find this music more appropriate for her voice. Whereas an opera singer might sound out of place singing these simple melodies (see the complete edition of Britten's folksongs), Ms. Brightman has the sound of an amateur with a pleasing voice, giving fairly tasteful renditions (compared, for instance, to her "O mio babbino caro") of a repertoire that is usually only heard from young, untrained singers just entering the voice studio.

Even if this is not his most inspired performance, Geoffrey Parsons is simply one of the greatest song pianists on record.

As I listen to this CD, I grow more amazed each time that Sarah Brightman had such a wonderfully trained voice at such a young age. Her beautifully pure voice, coupled with Benjamin Britten's accompaniment, makes this a CD for any Brightman, or simply good music, fan. Sarah truly brings her country's folk songs to life--she sings each one with great feeling. I highly recommend this CD.

Part of the reason people don't respect Sarah Brightman is because her fans tend to think of her as absolutely infallible. Therefore, when a new album is released, it is always accompanied by "It's brilliant!" even if the rest of the world thinks it's garbage. When she "crossed-over" into pseudo-classical singing, her fans declared her to be the Queen of Opera, nobody could sing classically better than her. Interestingly enough, the fans usually don't mention this album, her most legitimate classical album, at all.

All of this is unfortunate because Brightman really does have a lovely, if small, voice, and it suits Britten's arrangements very well. The songs are marred slightly by occasional pop influences and strained high notes, but all in all this isn't bad.