Sarah Brightman 'Live in Vienna' album

Due to overwhelming demand by her devoted fans, Manhattan Records will make a CD/DVD of Sarah Brightman's PBS special Symphony - Live in Vienna, available at retail for the first time on March 10, 2009. The package features the best-selling British soprano's spine-tingling performance at Vienna's magnificent Stephansdome Cathedral on January 16th, 2008, in both audio and visual formats. The Symphony - Live in Vienna television special debuted on PBS in March 2008 during the network's spring pledge drive and aired throughout the month.

Brightman chose one of Europe's most majestic settings for this milestone concert event. Consecrated in 1147, Stephansdom Cathedral is renowned for its awe-inspiring Gothic architecture, which, along with the production's lavish light show, lends a dramatic and mystical feel to the musical proceedings, which were recorded in 5.1 Surround Sound.

"It's a very special place," Brightman says of the cathedral. "There's a dark romanticism and fairy-tale feeling within it. When you walk in, it envelops you. It's large, but at the same time you feel very at home there and quite cozy. I wanted an architectural setting that suggested faith. I think of all the cathedrals in the world, this is one of my favorites, which is why it was important to me to perform this concert there."

Backed by a live rock band and a full orchestra, Brightman delivers passionate performances of songs from her 2008 chart-topping album Symphony, as well as such fan favorites as "Phantom of the Opera," "Time to Say Goodbye," and "Ave Maria." Brightman also welcomes several special guests for duets, including Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Argentinean countertenor Fernando Lima, and British singer Chris Thompson of Mannfred Mann's Earth Band.

The package will be sold as a stand-alone CD as well as bundled in a CD/DVD format. The latter features more than 45 minutes of bonus material, including interview commentary by Brightman, an eight-page glossy color booklet, and an exclusive bonus audio track, "Vide Cor Meum."

Symphony - Live in Vienna comes in the wake of a busy year for Brightman, who has, over the past two and a half decades, established herself as the quintessential crossover artist and world's best-selling soprano of all time with worldwide sales of more than 26 million albums and more than two million DVDs. In 2008, the Hertfordshire, England native released her first studio album in five years, Symphony, which topped Billboard's Classical Overall Albums, Classical Crossover Albums, and Top Internet Albums charts, and bowed at No. 13 on the Top 200 Album chart, Brightman's highest-ever U.S. album chart debut. She also performed the Olympic theme song, "You and Me," at the 2008 Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing with Chinese star Liu Huan, and launched a world tour, her first since 2004, performing in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In November, Brightman released her first-ever Christmas album, A Winter Symphony, bringing her glorious angelic voice to many of the season's classics.

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Sarah Brightman - Live in Vienna