Symphony (Sarah Brightman album)

Symphony
Studio album by Sarah Brightman
Released 28 January 2008
Recorded Germany (Nemo Studio), the US and the UK (Angel Studios)
Genre Classical crossover/opera, classical, symphonic rock
Length 54:10
Label Manhattan Records
Producer Frank Peterson
Sarah Brightman chronology

Diva: The Singles Collection
(2006)		 Symphony
(2008)		 A Winter Symphony
(2008)
Singles from Symphony
  1. "I Will Be With You"
    Released: 16 July 2007
  2. "Running"
    Released: 28 August 2007
  3. "Pasión"
    Released: 6 November 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Symphony is the ninth studio album from the English Soprano singer Sarah Brightman, released in January 2008 (see 2008 in music). This classical crossover album is a contrast to her previous collaboration with producer Frank Peterson, 2003's Harem; using more Gothic influences instead of Eastern.

The single "Running" was the IAAF's Green Project Charity song, which Brightman performed at their 2007 Championships opening ceremonies in Ōsaka, Japan. An alternate version of the album's first single, "I Will Be with You", featuring Chris Thompson, was the theme song for the tenth Pokémon film: The Rise of Darkrai. The Spanish duet with Fernando Lima, "Pasión", was the theme song for the Mexican soap opera of the same name, and was also released as a single. The London Symphony Orchestra and Brightman's younger sister, Amelia Brightman, are featured on the album.

Singles

Songs

Recorded in Germany, Symphony featured all new songs and was created with Brightman's long-time producer Frank Peterson. The repertoire ranges from ballads such as "Symphony", "Fleurs du Mal" and rock scores "I Will Be With You", originally sung by Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø. "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets is adapted on "Running" and Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" is sung in Italian as "Sarai Qui". On this album Brightman reunited with Andrea Bocelli to sing "Canto Della Terra", as well as singing duets with Fernando Lima (Mexican tenor) on "Pasion" and Paul Stanley (from the band Kiss) on "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)". The album showcases Brightman's linguistic vocal skills by singing in Spanish, Italian, French and for the first time in German in the song "Schwere Träume", an adaptation of the fourth movement of Gustav Mahler's fifth symphony.

Live concert album

A PBS special concert was filmed on January 16, 2008 at the Cathedral Stephansdom in Vienna. This was subsequently shown on PBS stations, premiering on February 4. A version of the concert is available from PBS on DVD and the worldwide release of the DVD and live CD was on March 10, 2009.[2]

Album art

The album art for Symphony pictures Brightman in Gothic clothing and surroundings, which was based upon concept art from Guild Wars by Daniel Dociu.[3]

Promotion

On NBC in the United States, Brightman performed several songs from the album on the Progressive Fashion on Ice show on January 20, 2008. Other American television appearances included The Early Show (CBS), The View (ABC), Martha and Fox & Friends.

In Mexico, Televisa selected the song "Pasion" was the theme song of the telenovela, Pasion. In the United Kingdom, Brightman's promotion for the album included appearing on the cookery shows Saturday Kitchen and Ready Steady Cook with Lesley Garrett. Other U.K. television appearances for the album included, Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show, ITV's Loose Women, five's The Wright Stuff and the BBC News. Brightman also appeared on radio on Classic FM and Jonathan Ross' show on BBC Radio 2.

During April 2008, Brightman performed with Anne Murray at Canada's Juno Awards and she later appeared in May in the U.K. at the 2008 Classical BRIT Awards.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Gothica"  Frank Peterson/Carsten Heusmann 1:20
2. "Fleurs du Mal"  Peterson/Thomas Schwarz/Matthias Meissner/Martin Himmelsbach/Klaus Hirschburger/Brightman 4:10
3. "Symphony"  Stefanie Kloß/Andreas Nowak/Johanns Stolle/Thomas Stolle/Grant Black/Brightman 4:47
4. "Canto della Terra" (feat. Andrea Bocelli)Francesco Sartori/Lucio Quarantotto 3:59
5. "Sanvean"  Andrew Claxton/Lisa Gerrard 3:50
6. "I Will Be with You (Where the Lost Ones Go)" (feat. Paul Stanley)Espen Lind/Magnus Rostandmo/Amund Björklund 4:31
7. "Schwere Träume"  Peterson/Michael Soltau/Hirschburger/Brightman 3:22
8. "Sarai Qui" (feat. Alessandro Safina)Diane Warren/Michelangelo La Bionda 3:56
9. "Storia d'Amore"  Philip Cordel/Michelangelo La Bionda/Brightman 4:03
10. "Let It Rain"  Carsten Heusmann/Hirschburger/Peterson 4:17
11. "Attesa"  Pietro Mascagni/Chiara Ferrau 4:26
12. "Pasión" (feat. Fernando Lima)Jorge Avendaño Lührs 5:14
13. "Running"  Peterson/Brightman/Hirschburger 6:09
Total length:
 54:10

Chart performance

In the early 2008 release, the album garnered a remarkable set of chart accolades around the world, including an unprecedented debut in the US Billboard 200 Album chart at 13 (Brightman's highest charting record in the U.S.) moving 32,033 copies in first week.[4] It hit number one in the Mexico International charts and the US Billboard Classical Chart, the top five in Canada and Japan and the top twenty across Europe.[5] In a long term, the album failed to match the success of its predecessors in the United States, but experienced a moderate success in Asia. [6] In Japan the album entered the chart at No. 4 selling 25,815 copies during its first week.[7]

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[8] 31
Austria Alben Top 75[8] 10
Belgium Flanders Ultratop 50 Albums[8] 8
Canada Top Albums[9] 4
Czech Albums Chart[10] 14
Finland Albums Top 40[8] 27
Hungary MAHASZ Top 40[11] 13
Ireland IRMA Albums Top 100[8] 50
Japan Oricon Top Albums[12] 4
Mexico Top 100 Albums Chart[8] 5
Netherland Album Top 100[8] 20
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Top 40[8] 28
Poland OLiS Top 50[8] 18
Portugal Albums Top 30[8] 20
Spain Top Albums[8] 43
Swedish Album Chart 2
Switzerland Alben Top 100[8] 24
UK Albums Chart[8] 13
US Billboard Top 200 Albums[4] 13
US Billboard Top Classical Overall Albums[4] 1
US Billboard Top Classical Crossover Albums[4] 1
US Billboard Top Internet Albums[4] 1
US Billboard Top Digital Albums[4] 16

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Gold 50,000^
China (SARFT)[14] Platinum 30,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[15] Gold 100,000^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[6] Gold 40,000^
South Korea (GAON)[16] Platinum 10,000*
Taiwan (RIT)[17] Platinum 14,000*

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Symphony (Sarah Brightman album) at AllMusic
  2. ↑ "Symphony: Live in Vienna DVD delayed". Sarah-Brightman.com. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Community". Guild Wars. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Sarah Brightman's New CD, Symphony is Soprano's Highest U.S. Chart Debut". PR Newswire. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  5. ↑ "Sarah Brightman scores highest charting album in over a decade". EMI press releases, news. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Certificaciones – Sarah Brightman" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas.
  7. ↑ http://www.geocities.jp/object_ori/080310a.html
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 8.12 "Sarah Brightman – Symphony". acharts.us. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sarah Brightman's Symphony chart History". Billboard. 15 December 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparada/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=14&titul=145841&sec=63118d8d7c5160bd19a61899c36a1000
  11. ↑ "Hungary Mahasz Charts – search by performer".
  12. ↑ "Sarah Brightman chart History in Japan". Oricon Top. 15 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Sarah Brightman – Symphony". Music Canada.
  14. ↑ "莎拉·布莱曼"交响美声"广州演唱会".
  15. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Sarah Brightman – Symphony" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
  16. ↑ "Best Selling Foreign Albums in South Korea". Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "Gold Typhoon 金牌大風". gold-typhoon.com.tw. Retrieved 7 July 2014.

External links