A Winter Symphony - Sarah Brightman

Arrival STAR TRACK!! This is possibly the most instantly accessible, joyous singalong track by Sarah that I've ever had the pleasure of putting through my CD player. This is a celebration of winter festivals, a huge brightly coloured warmly welcoming magical land festooned with party lights and festooned with streamers and baubles against a backdrop of snow. [10/10]

Colder Than Winter A gentle and romantic ballad in which Sarah laments love lost. A conventional ballad which would sit well on the album of any major artist as a stand-out track, but at least with Sarah, you know that it is going to be sung well. [9/10]

Ave Maria A duet with Fernando Lima, this is sung in what I take to be Latin or Italian. Doesn't particular strike me as a track for the holidays, but then I guess I'm relaying more about my spiritual interests than about this track. It's amazingly composed and structured using a full orchestra to moving effect. More in line with Sarah's penchant for 'Classics'... which will no doubt include people who love her for what she does well anyway. [8/10]

Silent Night Yes, it's Sarah's take on the old carol favourite. A pretty straightforward and faithful rendition with a beautiful orchestral accompaniment. This has to be one of the most beautiful recorded versions of this song that I can ever remember coming across. [9/10]

In The Bleak Midwinter This was my most favourite Christmas carol ever when I was a schoolchild. It's not the most common of carols and the versions I have of it by other artists are not on patch on this. Wonderful delivery with an orchestra that just grows and builds throughout. Sarah's vocals are on total top-notch form in this. Delightful. [9.5/10]

I've Been This Way Before STAR TRACK!! Okay... the thing with this track is to foget all of the imagery of winter that accompanies the album, forget any notion of Christmas and just see this as a Sarah Brightman track. Do that, and I think that this is a contender for the best track by Sarah Brightman ever. Starting gently, it reaches an awesome powerhouse of vocal and orchestra before ending as it started - with a gentle vocal caress from the voice of an angel. Simple melody, great orchestration, superb. [10/10]

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring Sarah has worked with a number of orchestras on this album and this time up it's the The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. They provide a wonderfully cinematic arrangement for this track to which Sarah's voice accompanies as if an integral instrumentation. Beautifully arranged. [9.5/10]

Child In A Manger I assume this is a well known carol, but I don't know it, so I'm perplexing as to why it's set to the melody of 'Morning Has Broken' which I do know. I wanted to hear more of the vocal chorus that joins her for two lines two-and-a-half minutes into this track. Not the strongest, but nice enough. [7.5/10]

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday Oh, yes it is! It's a cover of the song by Wizzard. Now, when people normally cover iconic songs like this, I really wish they hadn't bothered. Sarah doesn't disappoint, though. Faithful to the original in every single way, the delivery is actually better in that I can hear every word and the musical arrangement from the Steve Sidwell Big Band is top drawer. Fabulous version of a quintessential seasonal favourite. [10/10]

Amazing Grace You all know this one. Accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, Sarah ensures that this version is a pleasure to listen to rather than the... let's just say I don't normally like this one. I'm such a sucker for an orchestra and a real voice. [8.5/10]

Ave Maria No duet partner this time - just Sarah. But see above anyway. Actually, don't. I prefer this solo version. Sarah really soars like a bird through the range of musical scales that only a real singer can muster. She has to be one of the most beautiful voices ever. [9.5/10]

I Believe In Father Christmas STAR TRACK!! This is the song most people know as being by Greg Lake, but ever since I heard the promotional clips for the album, this is the track that I most anticipated. The London Symphony Orchestra provide the musical score for this - and what a score this is. It transforms this well-known Christmas classic into another stratosphere. Best Christmas track ever? Now, it possibly is... [10/10]

When A Child Is Born When I read this on the tracklisting, my mind went back to those albums your mother had by Johnny Mathis. This is a pretty faitful rendition with the added 'oomph' of an orchestra. Nothing to get too over the top about, but a good version, as you'd expect. [8.5/10]

Carpe Diem I've never heard of Mario Frangoulis before, but what does that matter? This duet with him shows both his and Sarah's vocals off beautifully. Again, London Symphony Orchestra are on hand to make this track utterly wonderfully and it's in the last minute where Sarah and Mario's vocals unite against the backdrop of the orchestra that the sheer power of this track hits home. [9/10]

Happy Christmas (War Is Over) I had reservations about this. The John Lennon version is one that I normally overlook on all of those Christmas compilations we have sitting on our shelves. Not the spirit of Christmas in my mind. Probably the spirit of Christmas in George Galloway's house. Politics and robin red-breasts. Not a nice mix. This version by Sarah is okay enough. It's still not my favourite Christmas song and I probably still won't play it very much, but it's an improvement. [8/10]

Overall Rating: 9/10 (and three star tracks to choose from depending on whether you are listening to this for the sound of Christmas or the sound of Sarah Brightman).