Nella Fantasia

"Nella Fantasia" ("In My Fantasy")
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Lyrics by	Chiara Ferraù
Published	1998
Original artist	Sarah Brightman
Recorded by	Il Divo, Tenor Javier Fontana, Ricardo Marinello, Paul Potts
Performed by	Sarah Brightman, Celtic Woman

Music of Italy
Genres:	Classical (Opera) - Pop - Rock (Hardcore - New Wave - Progressive rock) - Disco - Folk - Hip hop - Jazz
History and Timeline
Awards	Italian Music Awards
Charts	Federation of the Italian Music Industry
Festivals	Sanremo Music Festival - Umbria Jazz Festival - Ravello Festival - Festival dei Due Mondi - Festivalbar
Media	Music media in Italy
National anthem	Il Canto degli Italiani
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Aosta Valley - Abruzzo - Basilicata - Calabria - Campania - Emilia-Romagna - Florence - Friuli-Venezia Giulia - Genoa - Latium - Liguria - Lombardy - Marche - Milan - Molise - Naples - Piedmont - Puglia - Rome - Sardinia - Sicily - Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol - Tuscany - Umbria - Veneto - Venice
Related topics
Opera houses - Music conservatories - Terminology

"Nella Fantasia" ("In My Fantasy") is an Italian song based on the theme "Gabriel's Oboe" from the film The Mission (1986). With music by famed composer Ennio Morricone and lyrics by Chiara Ferraù, "Nella Fantasia" is popular among classical crossover singers, and was originally sung by Sarah Brightman. Other artists have performed the song as well, such as argentinian tenor Javier Fontana, Donald Braswell II, Amici Forever, Celtic Woman (Chloë Agnew), Garðar Thór Cortes, Il Divo, The Celtic Tenors, Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson, Amaury Vassili, Jackie Evancho, Wendy Kokkelkoren with Guido's Orchestra,vocal group FOURTE and Summer Watson. In 2007, the winner of the first season of the British TV show Britain's Got Talent, Paul Potts, covered this song on his album One Chance. Ricardo Marinello–Germany's "Supertalent"–performed the song on his first album The Beginning (2007). In 2006 Australian singer Kane Alexander recorded a version for his debut self titled album. The song features on the album Brand New Day by the group Tenors UnLimited.

Origin

"Nella Fantasia" first appeared on Sarah Brightman's album Eden (1998). A music video for the song was released on brightman's "Diva- The video collection DVD" in 2006 and the song sold 2 million digital copies in South Korea. On the March 1999 video recording of her "One Night in Eden" concert, when introducing the song she said:^[1]

“

My next song was originally an instrumental written by the composer Ennio Morricone for the film The Mission. About three years ago I wrote to Mr. Morricone, asking whether he would give me permission to turn this particular piece into a song. He flatly refused. So every two months I would send yet another begging letter, until I think he became so sick of me that he finally relented. And I am really glad that he did, because I think it works beautifully as a song.

”

In the liner notes of Eden, the lyricist of the song was named as "Ferraù". However, it has been suggested on the fansite Sarahbrightman.co.uk that the Italian lyrics of the song were written by Brightman herself.^[2] It is possible that Brightman wrote the lyrics of the song in English and they were translated into Italian by Ferraù. Confusingly, the liner notes of Brightman's subsequent album The Very Best of 1990–2000 (2001), which also featured the song, state that the composers of the song were Berta Ferraud and Ennio Morricone.^[1] It may be that "Berta" is a nickname and "Ferraud" a misspelling. In fact, there exists an early version of "Nella Fantasia" called "In Fondo alla Mente" (At the back of the mind) sung by Sarah Brightman. The lyrics of this song differ from those of Nella Fantasia, and it never was released.

Later recordings by Il Divo on their self-titled album Il Divo (2004), by Amici Forever on their album Defined (2005), and by Garðar Thór Cortes on his album Cortes (UK release, 2007) confirm that the lyricist of the song is a female composer named Chiara Ferraù.^[1][3]

Japanese Classical Crossover singer Kanon (singer) recorded the song and included it on her 2007 album "Precious" .

It is also one of the pieces used in the classical music-themed 2008 Korean TV drama Beethoven Virus (Episode 3).

In June 2011, the song was sung by 22-year-old Sung-Bong Choi, a "Korea's Got Talent" show competitor.^[4] The video of his performance has recently gone viral and now has over 10 million views on YouTube.^[5]

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Nella Fantasia" are as follows:

Italian

English translation

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto, Lì tutti vivono in pace e in onestà. Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere, Come le nuvole che volano, Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima. Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro, Lì anche la notte è meno oscura. Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere, Come le nuvole che volano. Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo, Che soffia sulle città, come amico. Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere, Come le nuvole che volano, Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.

In my imagination I see a fair world, Everyone lives in peace and in honesty there. I dream of souls that are always free, Like the clouds that fly, Full of humanity in the depths of the soul. In my imagination I see a bright world, Even the night is less dark there. I dream of souls that are always free, Like clouds that fly. In my imagination there exists a warm wind, That breathes on the cities, like a friend. I dream of souls that are always free, Like clouds that fly, Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} van Geffen, Jos (2006-12-11). "Sarah Brightman – Nella Fantasia". Home page of Jos van Geffen. http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb810.html. Retrieved 2007-04-21. 
2. ^ Brito, Andrés (2001–2002). "Little Facts About Sarah Brightman : Nella Fantasia". Sarahbrightman.co.uk. http://www.sarahbrightman.co.uk/woman/trivia/index.php?Trivia=016. Retrieved 2007-04-21.  In a review of a Sarah Brightman concert at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on 14 September 1999, Philip Anderson wrote that "'Nella Fantasia'... was inspired by an instrumental soundtrack for the film, 'The Mission', which Sarah had begged the composer to allow her to put lyrics to": Anderson, Philip (1999). "Sarah Brightman : September 14, 1999 – San Jose Center for the Performing Arts – San Jose, CA". KAOS2000 Magazine. http://www.kaos2000.net/music/live/1999/sarahbrightman/. Retrieved 2007-04-21. 
3. ^ According to FPWeb, a website dedicated to German composer and music producer Frank Peterson, Chiara Ferraù wrote lyrics in Italian for Sarah Brightman's albums Eden and La Luna (2000) and also provided words for the song "Quando Sento Che Mi Ami" performed by José Carreras: van Dyk, Vaughan. "Mini-bio (Chiara Ferrau)". FPWeb. http://home.global.co.za/~jvd/related/ferrau.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-21. 
4. ^ [http://abcnews.go.com/International/susan-boyle-south-korean-singer-latest-internet-sensation/story?id=13779754 "The Next Susan Boyle? . It was also sung by the act "Pip and Puppy" on the fifth semi-final of the 2011 Britain's Got Talent, broadcast live on 3rd June, 2011. South Korean Singer Sung-bong Choi is Latest Internet Sensation"]. ABCnews.go.com. June 7, 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/International/susan-boyle-south-korean-singer-latest-internet-sensation/story?id=13779754. Retrieved June 8, 2011. 
5. ^ "‪[Korea's Got Talent] tvN 코리아 갓 탤런트 Ep.1 Sung-bong Choi!!!.avi‬‏". YouTube. 2011-06-04. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y. Retrieved 2011-06-08.