Nella Fantasia

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

"Nella Fantasia" ("In My Fantasy") is a song sung in Italian 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 released in 1998 by Sarah Brightman. Other artists have performed the song as well (see below.)

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:

“

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.

”

Lyricist

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. 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. It may be that "Berta" is a nickname and "Ferraud" a misspelling of "Ferraù."

Later recordings were made 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) state that the lyricist of the song is a female composer named Chiara Ferraù.

Covers

Other artists who have covered the song are 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.

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. The video of his performance has recently gone viral and now has over 25 million views on YouTube. 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.

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.