Con te partirò



"Con te partirò" ("I will leave with you") is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Festival and recorded 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 in 1996 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. Brightman and Bocelli produced a version with Brightman singing in German and Bocelli in Italian, with this version being available on the CD Time to Say Goodbye. That version alone has now sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Bocelli also recorded a full Spanish version of the song, titled "Por Ti Volaré" (For You I Will Fly). Under all those three versions, the song is considered Bocelli's signature song.

Background
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.

The match took place on 23 November 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. 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-orientated 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" concerts.

Chart performance

 * "Con te partirò"


 * "Time to Say Goodbye"

Certifications
Certifications are for the Sarah Brightman/Andrea Bocelli "Time To Say Goodbye" version, unless stated otherwise.

Donna Summer version
"I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)", is a dance version performed by Donna Summer, which went to number one on the US dance chart. Her version also peaked at #2 in Spain singles charts and #3 in Spain Radio chart.

Other cover versions
Since its release, the song has spawned numerous other versions and been performed by numerous other singers. Notable alternative versions include "Por ti volaré", a Spanish version with significantly modified lyrics.
 * Nana Mouskouri recorded a version on the 1997 album, Hommages.
 * A Taiwanese singer A-Mei (Zhang Hui Mei) recorded the song in Chinese, in 2000, on the album Ge Sheng Mei Ying with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
 * In 2001, Journey guitarist Neal Schon released a solo album, Voice, which features an instrumental version of the song.
 * In 2004, trumpeter Chris Botti released his rendition on When I Fall in Love.
 * Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins included the song on her 2004 album, Second Nature. Jenkins' version was also released as a single on 21 February 2005.
 * The song was covered by Italian House DJ Gigi D'agostino in his 2006 compilation album, Some Experiments.
 * American artist Nick Palance recorded this song on his Solo CD, Memoirs in Song, in 2006.
 * Gregory Lemarchal recorded a version for his album, La voix d'un ange, which was posthumously released in 2007.
 * New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra included a version on her 2007 album, Amazing Grace – The Best of Hayley Westenra.
 * Swedish singer Sanna Nielsen's English-Swedish version was included in her 2007 album, Sanna 11-22.
 * André Rieu with Mirusia Louwerse also recorded a version of this song on the album, You'll Never Walk Alone.
 * South African tenor Fanie de Jager recorded the song on his classical CD, My Classical Soul, in 2007.
 * The pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards covered the song for their 2007 album, Spirit of the Glen.
 * Japanese classical-crossover singer Kanon recorded a version of the song and included it on her 2007 album, Precious.
 * 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 original.
 * In 2009, Mark Vincent recorded the version for his debut studio album, My Dream – Mio Visione.
 * The song is also sampled and featured throughout the 2009 song "Time to Say Goodbye" by Twenty One Pilots.
 * French classical-crossover tenor Amaury Vassili also did the same on his 2010 album, Canterò.
 * British singer Joe McElderry recorded the song on his 2011 album, Classic, and made a video of it.
 * Operatic pop group Il Divo covered the song on their 2011 album, Wicked Game.
 * The song was covered by Vampire Weekend for Starbucks' Sweetheart 2014 compilation.
 * The song was also covered by Lauren Aquilina in 2015, which was used in the advert for Season Six of Downton Abbey.
 * In 2016, Marina Prior and Mark Vincent covered the song on their album Together.
 * In May 2016, Bocelli performed the song at the King Power stadium in honour of Leicester City football club's incredible Premier League Title win and in honour of Bocelli's friend, Leicester City manager and fellow Italian Claudio Ranieri.
 * Celtic Woman covered the song, in English, on their 2016 album, Celtic Woman: Voices of Angels.

In media
Although the song is most associated with sporting events, it has featured frequently in film and television and is a favourite concert item. It is also a very popular piece for funerals.


 * The song has been featured in the films: Wanted, Ronin, Blades of Glory, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and "Girl on a Bicycle".
 * The climax to the film Step Brothers features Will Ferrell singing "Por ti Volaré", a Spanish-translated version of the song.
 * Sarah Hughes skated to the song for the 1999 Hershey's Kisses Figure Skating Challenge.
 * The song was sung by Maria Lucia at the closing ceremony of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
 * The song was sung on multiple episodes of America's Got Talent, including twice by Jackie Evancho in 2010 (once together with Sarah Brightman).
 * In 2008, the song was used as the theme song to Welsh television show Con Passionate.
 * Ricardo Marinello, the winner of the Germany's Got Talent (Das Supertalent) (2007), took the song as the opening song on his first record "The Beginning"
 * The song was used in a few episodes of the TV show Providence and is featured on the CD Soundtrack.
 * When Andrea Bocelli appeared on Sesame Street he sang the song to Elmo as "Time to Say Goodnight."
 * It has been used a number of times in the television series The Sopranos as one of Carmela's themes, starting with the first episode of the second season. It is especially prominent in the episode Commendatori Season 2 Episode 4.
 * Kenny McCormick sings a muffled version of the song with a 'Singing Like Bocelli for Dummies' guide tape in the South Park episode "Quintuplets 2000".
 * One of the signature songs of Filipino singer Lani Misalucha and Macedonian superstar Tose Proeski.
 * On 24 July 2011 analog television shut down in Japan. One television station in Sapporo chose to play the song on its analog termination warning. This is a violation of analog shutdown rules since most stations were not allowed to play vocal music on their analog termination warnings.
 * The song was featured in season eight of Shameless.
 * The song was used in The Simpsons episode "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony" (Season 22, Episode 19) which originally aired on 1 May 2011.
 * The song was used in the animated film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted during a romantic montage of King Julien XIII and Sonya the Bike Riding Circus Bear wooing in Rome.
 * MMA fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama uses the song as his entrance music.
 * The song was used in the tribute to Portuguese/Mozambican soccer player Eusébio after his death, on 6 January 2014, when his body was transported in the last lap around his Stadium of Light, as his last wish.
 * Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith used the song for their Inside No. 9 episode 'The 12 Days of Christine'. Ellen E Jones, writing in The Independent, said that the song "was deployed on the soundtrack to devastating effect."
 * The song was used to end ESPN SportsCentury's episode on Wayne Gretzky.
 * After Gabe the Dog (A character of a popular meme) died on 20 January 2017, the song was used as a template for a remix using various footage of Gabe and posted in YouTube. Titled: "time to say goodbye to Gabe".
 * Used in the Japanese Drama "Diplomat Kuroda Kotaru"