Sarah Brightman in Vienna - 16.01.2008

For those who don't know already, I'm a huge fan. That kind of fan that knows all the lyrics, albums, details... the fan that travels to see the concerts. I first saw Sarah Brightman live when she came to Bucharest on September 4th 2004, during the Arts Festival. Back then she was promoting her Harem album, released one year before.

Years passed and everybody was waiting for a new tour. Waiting.. and waiting...

Till one day, right before New Years Eve 2008, when her PR posted on the official site an announcement. Sarah would record a show for the American station PBS. Songs from her latest album, Symphony. The recording would take place in Vienna, on January 16th, inside Stephansdom. Those who could attend were kindly asked to send an email. It was for free. I went there with two friends of mine. It was even better than the long waited tour. If you visited the Stephansdom you probably know that you get a certain feeling when stepping inside. It's huge and cold. Imagine now the same large cathedral filled with people. It wasn't cold anymore. there were tens of candle lights and professional lighting hanging on the walls. You'll see in the pictures below what I'm talking about.

I had a good possition, right next to the place where the aisles meet, where she stopped for almost each song. And there were about 200 fans, all registered on the Official Site. The rest of the people in the church are locals.


First, it was the red dress. She sung Pie Jesu at the entrace of the cathedral, followed by Fleur du Mal.

Then her first guest came. the Italian tenor Alessandro Safina. They had together two duest. Sarai Qui and Canto della Terra (I wish Andrea Bocelli was there. This is their second duet after Time to Say Goodbye).

This taping was very interesting to follow. We could see everything. Sort of "how it's made" from Discovery. I could see the lighting and sound crew, make up artist, the producer, the camera guy. They had to retape two songs. Which was great for us, fans. The first one was Canto della Terra. And I'll speak about the second one later.

Second guest, Fernando Lima. They did together Passion, a song in Spanish about love and passion. He's a countertenor. The song is lovely.

Running and Let It Rain followed. Let it Rain is one of my favorites on this album. The white dress was nice, creative, origianl, but not appropriate for church. I think this was the only bad comment I'll make.

One of the best moments of the concert was Phantom of the Opera from the play with the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was different because she wanted to do it from up there, next to the organ. it's a dramatic song and it instantly gave me goose bumps. Brava!!!

The grand finale was Time to Say Goodbye, as every one expected. She was on the stage (improvised in the altar). On the final notes the camera was supposed to come from the entrace of the cathedral all the way to where she was. they didn't calculate well and the camera didn't arrive in time. She kindly announced a retapying. Hurray!!! The fans couldn't agree more.After the recording was over she thanked everybody for the nice evening and left.
Before leaving Stephansdom we met the producer Frank Peterson and one of the guests, Fernando Lima. They talked to the fans, had pictures taken and signed autographs.

It was a night to remember. Something that every fan dreams of.

And here you have the only video released for this album. Pasion - Sarah&Fernando

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