The Forerunner Times

"A life journal by Nathan J. Elias, called under God's grace to be His forerunner and restorer for His glory."

Ah, the Phantom of the Opera.

I was so thankful for the chance to watch this opera yesterday night. When the ticket went on sale last October, I was still thinking about buying the ticket, partly because of the price and partly because I was thinking whether it was worth it, especially since the original 1986 Phantom and Christine, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, have already stepped out of the stage, I wondered whether this show is still good enough to warrant such an expensive ticket. Time passed, and because I was still busy studying in JCU at that time, I eventually forgot about this Phantom of the Opera show.

But yesterday, the groove was there on the church when some of the people from the choir were talking about how they were going to watch the Phantom that night, especially Amel (although she was going to watch it the next Sunday, not yesterday). I was quite disappointed and rather hoping that I had bought that ticket. Curiousity got the best of me and I was wondering what was so good about this show that made it one of the best and most enduring shows in the world, having already ran more than 20 years in London and 18 years in Broadway.

The great chance came to me, though, at 7 pm, after the choir practice, when one of the people who had bought the ticket said that she could not come to the show and wanted to sell her ticket. In a sudden act of impulse, I instantly bought the ticket from her. It was quite expensive at S$130, but it was worth it because the seat was at the centre of the theatre and quite near to the stage, so I could see all the action and drama unfold before me very clear that night.

It was an amazing show of spectacle and music. If you’ve watched the movie version, let me tell you that everything they managed to do in the movie, it’s all there in here and performed LIVE. Even now I am still curious on some of the amusing tricks present in the show. Phantom appearing in the mirror in Christine’s room. Phantom disappearing in a flash of light during the Masquerade ball scene (truly, he was onstage at one moment, *poof* a blinding light, and he disappears in an instant). And the final scene where Phantom put his cape upon himself and disappears (different with the movie, here he just sits in the chair, covers himself, then Meg comes in, pulls the cape and nothing was there except the mask - it’s all in one scene, in the movie it seems easy because they can just cut the scene, the Phantom goes out and they film again, but here it’s all live and I couldn’t figure how could the Phantom just disappear like that).

The stage effects are amazing, they can change scenes instantly without needing to close the curtain. The background and the props just seem to move about and pop around from everywhere. Maybe they use some machinery or something, I don’t know, but it’s very amazing. The true spectacle was the Phantom’s lair where the smoke effects onstage plus the candles coming out of the bottom of the stage (yes, it seems like the candles just rise up from the FLOOR of the stage, but the smoke effects made it look like the candles are coming out from water) made it seem like the Phantom and Christine were really rowing a boat to Phantom’s lair. This is one heck of an opera where you’d think all this is magic. In the movie version, you won’t be amazed so much because you’d believe it was camera tricks and filming cuts, but when you see everything here performed live, including the effects (the Phantom hurls FIREBALLS, can you top that? And the fireballs felt hot, too!), you’ll just wonder how they managed to do that.

And yes, the music. The opera and the orchestra were amazing. You won’t ever want to watch the movie version again after watching this. You will instantly feel that Gerard Butler (the Phantom in the movie version) sucks. Butler seems to sing rock in the movie, not singing opera like the way the Phantom should, and he fails to hit those high notes. When you listen to the opera Phantom’s “Music of the Night” and “All I Ask Of You (Reprise)” you’ll immediately note the difference and feel THIS is how a real Phantom should sing. The notes for Phantom’s songs in the movie seems to be lowered from the opera version. Opera’s Phantom is a really high tenor who knows the high notes and reach them easily with falsetto, while the movie’s Phantom… well, the less said of him, the better.

All in all, one of the best and most memorable nights in my life. If you like musicals, you definitely gotta watch Phantom of the Opera at least once in your life. I know I’d want to watch it again someday. I was very lucky to be able to catch it in Singapore, so I don’t have to go all the way to London to Broadway to see it. The last time the Phantom tour was in Singapore was 15 years ago, so I wonder when I’d get the chance to watch it again…

Bravi, bravi, bravissimi~!!!

Comments:
This is a nice, warm and heartful song that is full of meaning. I first listened to Bump of Chicken when I was playing the “Tales of the Abyss” RPG, where they cover the main song titled Karma, which is another good song from Bump of Chicken, though I like this one better. This song is very soothing and a lot of people seems to like it too, considering the huge amount of positive reviews this single has received on the Internet. Truly a song that can warm your heart and make you think more about life and its meanings. Sometimes we take our lives for granted, but this song has a lot to say about the importance of the “small things in life”, memories and happiness. When life has passed and your clocks have run up, look back and find the happiness in the memories of small but meaningful little things. A song I would recommend to everyone to listen.

I came back from campus two days ago and look what I found lying in my room….

A package from Inex! I wonder what it could be… let’s open it and see what’s inside….

 

Sarah Brightman’s “One Night in Eden” and “Harem” concert DVDs! Finally! I now have a complete collection of all three Sarah Brightman concert with these two DVDs. Thank you Inex for fulfilling my hard-to-fulfill Christmas Wish, you really gone a long way to find these DVDs for me and for that I thank you lots lots and lots… loph u~ loph u~ loph u~

Now let’s see the DVDs in details shall we? Oh and you can click all images in this page (2 above included) to open a higher-resolution image so you can see all the finer details of the DVDs! And be sure to hover your mouse over the images to see my comments!

This is the Sarah Brightman “One Night In Eden” concert DVD. It was her first world tour in 1999, and so it was simple, the stage was small, with minimal but BEAUTIFULLY MADE stage acts, but I liked it! This is where she truly sang with magnificence and even without the creative stage acts seen on her latter concert, it works best. You have to see for yourself how she made for amazing scene acts, giving an image of a sea, a castle and the sky in different songs just with a piece of curtain and light work. Simple, but works beautifully, although still loses to La Luna, which has a better stage performance (of course, by La Luna she was already more famous, and her stage for that concert was A LOT bigger than this one, and she used many props for that concert, where for this one she only used curtains and stage lighting play, that works fine I must say). For this concert I rate the musical quality 8.0, the stage acts 8.0, and the total entertainment factor 8.0. Since this is her first concert, she didn’t have too many songs and the concert only lasted 92 minutes.

 

Okay, now let’s move on to the next one. This is her latest tour in 2004, “Harem”, conducted in Las Vegas. Well, it was too flashy in my opinion, too many stage acts, too many sexy dancers that distracts attention. And hey, she doesn’t sing too well here too, when she inhales during singing to take a breath, it was REALLY noticeable! If you compare it with Eden and La Luna you will see a whole lot of difference. The songs from the Harem album are also not too nice, so overall in this concert I only liked a few parts of it, maybe not even half of it, but it’s okay. But when they’re good, the stage acts are REALLY good and creative, and I must say this is maybe the best stage acts she ever thought of, though a bit over-the-top. I liked her flying angel and her swing scenes, they were magnificent. So in the end, for the music quality I rated 7.0, stage acts 8.0, and overall enjoyment 7.5.

 
 

So, after watching all three concert, I still stand by my opinion that La Luna (2001) was the best concert. It has the best blend and strikes the perfect balance between superb music (her La Luna album is magnificent) combined with superb stage acts (she really manages to use the “moon” theme really well) resulting in a very satisfying experience in which I enjoyed going through all her songs - and who could resist Sarah Brightman having a duet with Josh Groban? For La Luna I still give the music 9.0 and stage acts 9.0 - leading to an entertainment level of 9.0!

Definitely, you must watch all three, each have its different strength and weaknesses with uniqueness. As Sarah said, in every concert she brought a new world of fantasy into her audiences, and it is different for every concert. But as far as quality is concerned, La Luna is the one that you really must see. And thus, these three DVDs will go into my music library as part of my prized priceless collection. Thanks Inex, you really made my day!

Artist: Sarah Brightman & Richard Marx
Song: The Last Words You Said
Album: The Very Best Of, 1990-2000

Somewhere in time I know,
Darling you’ll come back to me.
Roses will bloom again,
But Spring feels like eternity.
In your kiss it wasn’t goodbye.
You are still the reason why.

I can hear you whispering in the silence of my room,
My heart still surrenders like the sun to the moon.
I can barely stand this aching, burning endlessly.
“Love me now forever,”
Were the last words you said to me.

Comments:
I dunno why my mood is like this, and this just seems like the perfect song for my mood. I can’t find a place where you can listen to this song online, but I might try to think of something later so that you can. When distance separates and the mind goes blank, only a lullaby can soothe the aching heart’s emptiness. I put this song into my Winamp repeat song mode and I’ve been listening to this song more than 10 times today…..

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Chorus:
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you’ve done.
Not because of what I’ve done,
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,(ocean)
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I’m calling,
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling,
And you’ve told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Chorus 2x

I am yours.
I am yours.

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
‘Cause I am yours.
I am yours.

Notes:
One of the most touching songs I have ever listened and this is why I liked Casting Crowns as their lyrics are always so touching and rooted with deep meaning. I always listen to this song when I feel like I am small and nobody, like what I am feeling right now. May this song also be a blessing for you. The complete version of this song can be listened to here.

I have heard about Sarah Brightman maybe more than five years ago, but just now I finally listened to her and I’ve fallen in love with her singing. Truly one of the best sopranos in the world, maybe even the world’s best, though some fans of Celine Dion and others will argue.

For the manga lovers who have read “Dragon Voice”, surely they will know (or not) that Sarah Brightman is the model for Amami Sara - Amami Rin’s mother with the legendary voice. Some concepts of Sarah Brightman’s concerts and wardrobe designs have also been passed on to the ‘Sara/Seiren’ character in the manga, especially some from this La Luna concert. Now it feels a little fulfilling to be able to see and listen to Sarah Brightman and imagine how Amami Sara might have sounded like.

How did I manage to find my new interest in Sarah Brightman? Again, Pandora (sheesh I am starting to sound like a Pandora marketing person). While listening to the New Age station which I made from Enya as the base artist, several times it pointed me to Sarah’s songs and I found them nice and enjoyful. Thus begans my Wikipedia research about her career and list of her albums and concert tour DVDs.

As of now I have three of her albums in my possession:
- Classics: Best of Sarah Brightman (2006)
- Harem (2003)
- The Very Best of Sarah Brightman: 1990-2000 (2001)

The Classics and The Very Best ones are the really good ones, must listen. Now I am looking for her legendary “Eden” album, but since it was out in 1998 it might be a little hard to find now. I am also looking for her concert DVDs, “One Night In Eden” (1999) and “Harem World Tour: Live In Las Vegas” (2004). Might try looking around in local stores once more, yesterday when I went there I arrived without knowing any of her concert DVD titles. I found this La Luna by accident, on the for sale rack, so I got this superb, beautifully amazing DVD for S$10 only (can you believe that), which should have actually cost more for the quality. So I was very lucky to get this DVD, which has been said to be her best concert DVD around in terms of voice and graphical clarity (while in term of overall concert performance Eden is still said to be the best).

For those of you who didn’t know her already, maybe you should go to Youtube and look for her duet with Andrea Bocelli titled “Time To Say Goodbye” (here it is). It’s a very famous song that should help you recognize who she is. As for other songs to listen to, I really cannot suggest as I like almost all of her songs, from the classical ones such as Pie Jesu and Hijo De La Luna (*) to the more pop ones like Who Wants To Live Forever, A Whiter Shade Of Pale (*) and Only An Ocean Away (which sounds awfully similar to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On). As an added bonus, while I’m on Youtube anyway, here’s her There For Me (*) duet with… see for yourself. You can find a lot more of her videos on Youtube, try to look for more on your own

Items with * are taken from her La Luna concert, so now you know how good my concert DVD is.

Enjoy her songs, as they may be the best to be found in your lifetime.
If you have never listened to Sarah Brightman, then you have never truly listened to good music.

Artist: Enya
Song: Pilgrim
Album: A Day Without Rain

View lyrics for this song.

—-
Love listening to my collection of Enya songs again lately, dunno why but I find these new age music soothing…. The Pandora Internet Radio have been my perfect companion for music listening, I’m sure avid music listeners such as Inex will love this. You can just put the name of the song or artist you like and the radio will make you a custom playlist with songs similar or having the same qualities with the artist you chose. It’s good, try it. I’ve found a lot of Christian and new age songs I’ve never heard before from this radio. It’s truly an enjoyable experience using this when I’m bored with the songs in my laptop and want to try some fresh ones.

Enya’s voice got a soothing tone with a hint of loneliness and sorrow in it. But in this song it talks about things quite different. It is a song about journey, about life and about your heart’s desire. I like listening to this song, as it gives me a sense of a journey far away and a feeling that my journey in this world is far from over. What is it I truly desire? What is it that I truly seek? Interesting song to listen to, though admittedly not as soothing as other Enya songs - right now I’m also listening to “Fallen Embers” (quite romantic I must say) and “Smaointe” (truly soothing).

As I am quite lonely in the night these days, expect more of these song-diaries popping up soon….

千里之外 | Qian Li Zhi Wai | A Thousand Miles Away (Faraway)
曲：周杰倫
Qu : Zhou Jie Lun
Music: Jay Chou

詞：方文山
Ci: Fang Wen Shan
Lyrics: Vincent Fang

Music Video (MV): http://youtube.com/watch?v=j78yf4RCtqo

Lyrics from jaywife provided by cs_omigosh here
Translation: Ling & cs_omigosh - www.jay-chou.net

屋簷如懸崖* 風鈴如滄海 我等燕歸來
Wu yan ru xuan yai* / feng ling ru cang hai / wo deng yan gui lai
The roof is like a cliff, wind chimes like the ocean, and I am waiting for the swallow to return.

時間被安排 演一場意外 你悄然走開
Shi jian bei an pai / yan yi chang yi wai / ni qiao ran zou kai
Time is scheduled to act out the accident of you leaving quietly.

故事在城外 濃霧散不開 看不清對白
Gu shi zai cheng wai / nong wu shan bu kai / kan bu qing dui bai
The story occurred outside the city (where) there were thick fogs. (I) can’t see the dialogue clearly.

你聽不出來 風聲不存在 是我在感慨
Ni ting bu chu lai / feng sheng bu cun zai / shi wo zai gan kai
You can’t tell (that) the wind chimes never sounded. It was my exasperation.

夢醒來 是誰在窗臺 把結局打開
Meng xing lai / shi shui zai chuang tai / ba jie ju da kai
Awakened (from my) dream, who stood by the window sill and opened the ending.

那薄如蟬翼的未來 經不起誰來拆
Na bo ru chan yi de wei lai / jing bu qi shui lai zhe
The future is as thin as the cicada’s wing and can’t withstand being torn by anyone.

我送你離開 千里之外 你無聲黑白
Wo song ni li kai / qian li zhi wai / ni wu sheng hei bai
I send you off to a thousand miles away. (My mental image of you) is silent, black and white

沈默年代 或許不該 太遙遠的相愛
Chen mo nian dai / huo xu bu gai / tai yao yuan de xiang ai
Perhaps a love so far apart shouldn’t exist in this silent era.

我送你離開 天涯之外 你是否還在
Wo song ni li kai / tian yai* zhi wai / ni shi fou hai zai
I send you away beyond the end of Earth. Are you still there?

琴聲何來 生死難猜 用一生 去等待
Qing sheng he lai / sheng si nan cai / yong yi sheng / qu deng dai
Where is the zither** sound coming from? It’s hard to predict life and death. (I will) use (my) whole life to wait.

聞淚聲入林 尋梨花白 只得一行 青苔
Wen lei sheng ru ling / xun li hua bai / zhi de yi hang / qing tai
I enter the woods upon hearing tears. (I) search for a white flower, but only get a row of moss.

天在山之外 雨落花台 我兩鬢斑白
Tian zai shan zhi wai / yu luo hua tai / wo liang xu ban bai
The sky is far away from the mountain. The rain falls on the flower garden. My hair has become white.

聞淚聲入林 尋梨花白 只得一行 青苔
Wen lei sheng ru ling / xun li hua bai / zhi de yi hang / qing tai
I enter the woods upon hearing tears. (I) search for a white flower, but only get a row of moss.

天在山之外 雨落花台 我等你來
Tian zai shan zhi wai / yu luo hua tai / wo deng ni lai
The sky is far away from the mountain. The rain falls on the flower garden. I wait for you to come.

一身琉璃白 透明著塵埃 你無瑕的愛
Yi shen liu li bai / tou ming zhe chen ai / ni wu xia de ai
Wearing clear white clothes, the transparency shows dust and your flawless love.

你從雨中來 詩化了悲哀 我淋濕現在
Ni chong yu zhong lai / shi hua le bei ai / wo ling shi xian zai
You come from the rain and transform sorrow into a poem and I am now wet.

芙蓉水面采 船行影猶在 你卻不回來
Fu rong shui mian cai / chuan xing ying you zai / ni que bu hui lai
A lotus floats on the water. It seems as if the shadows of the boat sails are still there, but you still won’t return.

被歲月覆蓋 你說的花開 過去成空白
Bei sui yue fu gai / ni shuo de hua kai / guo qu cheng kong bai
Covered by time, the flower that you said would blossom has become emptiness in the past.

夢醒來 是誰在窗臺 把結局打開
Meng xing lai / shi shui zai chuang tai / ba jie ju da kai
Awakened (from my) dream, who stood by the window sill and opened the ending.

那薄如蟬翼的未來 經不起誰來拆
Na bo ru chan yi de wei lai / jing bu qi shui lai zhe
The future is as thin as the cicada’s wing and can’t withstand being torn by anyone.

我送你離開 千里之外 你無聲黑白
Wo song ni li kai / qian li zhi wai / ni wu sheng hei bai
I send you off to athousand miles away (My mental image of you) is silent and black and white

沈默年代 或許不該 太遙遠的相愛
Chen mo nian dai / huo xu bu gai / tai yao yuan de xiang ai
Perhaps a love so far apart shouldn’t exist in this silent era.

我送你離開 天涯之外 你是否還在
Wo song ni li kai / tian yai* zhi wai / ni shi fou hai zai
I send you away beyond the end of Earth. Are you still there?

琴聲何來 生死難猜 用一生 去等待
Qin sheng he lai / sheng si nan cai / yong yi sheng / qu deng dai
Where is the zither** sound coming from? It’s hard to predict life and death. (I will) use (my) whole life to wait.

Credits to www.jay-chou.net.