Sarah Brightman’s flair for theatricality and the spectacular are on full display in her Symphony: Live in Vienna concert special. Based on her Symphony album, the concert was filmed at the breathtakingly gorgeous Stephansdome Cathedral in Vienna. With a widescreen presentation, every frame of the concert is filled with eye-popping shots of the cathedral’s interiors and Sarah’s gorgeous dresses. Listening to the DVD and the accompanying CD of the concert, Sarah sounds fantastic - she can definitely deliver vocally in a live setting as she’s proven time and again with her specials. The goth and rock-tinged songs from the Symphony album look and sound fantastic. Visually and song-wise there’s a perfect balance between the light and dark, the classical and the rock-influenced, the darkly romantic presentation of Sarah’s symphonic vision. While most of the tracks are from Symphony, there are a few Brightman “standards” like “Pie Jesu,” “Time to Say Goodbye,” and “Ave Maria” mixed in, all ideally suited to be sung in the Stephansdome Cathedral. My favorite tracks are the rock-opera stylings of “Fleurs Du Mal,” where Sarah makes a dramatic entrance in a stunning red dress, and her duets with Alessandro Safina and Chris Thompson. Safina joins her for “Canto Della Terra” and “Sarai Qui” (formerly known as “There You’ll Be” from Pearl Harbor) - if you haven’t heard this guy sing, do yourself a favor and check out his music. His voice is absolutely amazing, and the perfect classical counterpoint to Sarah’s in every way. Thompson takes the stage for two songs - “I Will Be With You (Where the Lost Ones Go),” which is a gorgeous song about lost love, and “The Phantom of the Opera.” In the cathedral setting he and Sarah blow the latter out of the water - backed by this amazing pipe organ, the song sounds fantastic, and Thompson really sells the track with a gravel-voiced intensity. The DVD has two interviews with Sarah discussing the production and each of the songs, which are pretty interesting, and then there’s a featurette on the location with interviews with one of the priests and a historian giving some fascinating background on the gorgeous cathedral. Symphony is probably my favorite Sarah Brightman concert yet - and this DVD/CD combo is a well put-together, gorgeously produced package.
