“Con te partirò” (literally meaning “With you I will leave”) is an Italian Classical crossover song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics), for Andrea Bocelli, who first sung it at the 1995 Sanremo Festival and recorded it on his album of the same year, Bocelli. The single was first released as an A-side single with “Vivere” in 1995, topping the charts, first in France, where it became one of the best selling singles of all time, and then in Belgium, breaking the all-time record sales there. A second version of the song, sung partly in English, released as “Time to Say Goodbye”, paired Bocelli with English soprano Sarah Brightman, and achieved even greater success, topping charts all across Europe, including Germany, where it became the biggest-selling single in history. That version alone has now sold more than 12 million copies worldwide Bocelli also recorded a completely Spanish version of the song, titled “Por ti volaré”. The song, under all three versions, is considered Bocelli’s signature song. The song’s original single release by Polydor Records was not commercially successful in Italy, and received little radio airplay there. Elsewhere, however, it was a massive hit. In France and Switzerland, the single topped the charts for 6 weeks, earning a triple Gold sales award. In Belgium, it became the biggest hit of all time, spending 12 weeks at No. 1. In Germany, East West Records, in conjunction with Polydor, marketed a version of “Con Te Partirò” retitled “Time to Say Goodbye”, and with some lyrics changed, as the theme song for the final match of boxer Henry Maske (then the light-heavyweight champion of the International Boxing Federation), having seen previous success when Vangelis’s “Conquest of Paradise” was also promoted via Maske’s fights. “Time to Say Goodbye” was also turned into a duet with Sarah Brightman, who had performed “A Question of Honour” for one of Maske’s previous fights. German producer Frank Peterson, who has worked with Brightman since 1991, opted to give the song an English title rather than the German title “Mit Dir Werde Ich Fortgehen”. Recording of the song took place at Peterson’s Nemo Studio, in Hamburg.[ match took place on November 23, 1996, pitting Maske against American Virgil Hill, and drew a television broadcast audience of over 21 million. Bocelli and Brightman performed the song to open the match, and it was used again during Maske’s exit. By December, the “Time to Say Goodbye” single, released on East West, had reached number one on the German singles chart, with sales estimated at 40,000-60,000 per day and projected for at least one million by the end of the year. Both singers’ albums also received a boost in sales. Airplay on German radio stations such as Norddeutscher Rundfunk was well received by listeners.[7] By February of the following year, the single had broken the all-time sales record in Germany with 1.65 million sales, and would eventually get certified 11x Gold for selling over 2,750,000 copies. It is also the best-selling single in Belgium. “Time to Say Goodbye” reached number two on the UK Singles Chart upon its release there in May 1997, and was certified gold. It remained in the top 30 for another two months, helped by steady radio airplay on BBC Radio 2, which was overtaking Radio 1 in popularity with an MOR-oriented playlist. The duet was included on Brightman’s 1997 album Timeless, re-titled as Time to Say Goodbye in the U.S. with the song itself moved to the start of the album. Brightman has also recorded a solo version, which was released on the duet single as well as later albums including “Classics” and “Diva the singles collection”. A live version was released on “Harem world tour, live from las vegas” cd as well as her various tour DVDs. Bocelli and Brightman have performed the duet together publicly several times including Andrea’s “statue of liberty concert” held in New york city, and “Live in Tuscany” concert., its release, the song has spawned numerous other versions and been performed by numerous other singers. Notable alternate versions include “Por ti volaré”, a Spanish version with significantly modified lyrics, and “I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)”, a dance remix performed by Donna Summer. In 2001, Journey guitarist Neal Schon released a solo album, Voice, which features an instrumental version of the song. Nana Mouskouri recorded a version on the 1997 album, “Hommages”. A Taiwanese singer A-Mei (Zhang Hui Mei) recorded the song in Chinese version in the year 2000 (album “Ge Sheng Mei Ying”) with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins recorded a version of the song and included it on her 2004 album Second Nature. Jenkins’ version was also released as a single on 21 February 2005. Gregory Lemarchal recorded a version for his album “La voix d’un ange” which was posthumously released in 2007 as Lemarchal died of cystic fibrosis in April 2007 at the age of 23. New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra included a version on her 2007 album, Amazing Grace — The Best of Hayley Westenra. Swedish singer Sanna Nielsen made an English-Swedish version of the song, which was included in her album Sanna 11-22. Andre Rieu with Mirusia Louwerse also recorded a version of this song on the album You’ll never walk alone. In 2004, trumpeter Chris Botti’s rendition was released on When I Fall in Love. In 2007 Chilean singer Carolina Soto recorded a Spanish cover version called “Por Ti Volaré”. It was a success in Chile, because Carolina was featured in a popular TV talent show, which was called “Rojo Fama Contra Fama”. The pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards covered the song for their 2007 album, Spirit Of The Glen. In 2008 Danish pop duo The Loft released their single “Kiss You Goodbye” based on “Con te partirò”/”Time to Say Goodbye” and containing samples from the originals. The heavy/thrash/rock/pop guitarist Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) covers this song in his 9th studio album “Bad D.N.A” released in Japan 25 August 2010. Japanese classical-crossover singer Kanon recorded a version of the song and included it on her 2007 album Precious. French classical-crossover tenor Amaury Vassili also did the same on his 2010 album Canterò. In 2011, American progressive/electro house producer ZHU composed a progressive house song with the melody and samples of “Con te partirò” as a tribute to Bocelli entitled “Con ZHU partirò”. British singer Joe McElderry recorded “Time To Say Goodbye” for his 2011 album, Classic. A music video was filmed for McElderry’s version to promote the album. The video was filmed in Hackney on 8 August 2011, during the 2011 England riots. The music video premiered on August 22, the album’s release date. The video cuts between shots of McElderry in a black & white scene singing while sitting on a chair and coloured scenes of him packing up suitcases, writing a goodbye letter, and leaving. Though after he leaves, the suitcase he left opens and the contents, including the letter, fall down the stairs. Donald Braswell II recorded this song on his 2011 album, Unchained.

By Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9WMIPzd6w

Lyrics