Sarah Brightman brings ‘Hymn’ to the Benedum
Since her career was launched 41 years ago with the release of the song “I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper,” Sarah Brightman has been one of the world’s most well-known sopranos, most successful classical crossover artists, has sung in Catalan and Mandarin Chinese, and has acted, danced and composed music.
For a while, it looked like Brightman was going to be able to put another skill on her resume – being an astronaut.
In 2015, Brightman took time off from her day job and began rigorous training in the Russian space program. She dropped out, citing personal reasons, but spoke about it with some fondness in a phone interview last week.
“I was highly challenged,” Brightman said. “I found out all kinds of stuff about myself and what I’m capable of. It makes you understand who you are.”
After putting a trip to outer space on hold, the 58-year-old began work on “Hymn,” her first new album in five years. Recorded over a period of more than two years with longtime producer Frank Peterson, it was a globe-trotting endeavor that paired Brightman with choirs and musicians in studios in London, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Vancouver, Budapest and Hamburg. “Hymn,” Brightman’s 15th album, was released in November and went to No. 1 on both Billboard’s classical and classical crossover charts. A tour to promote “Hymn” was launched in South America a few weeks after it was released, and it will touch down in Pittsburgh Feb. 12 at the Benedum Center. The show starts at 8 p.m.
There was no shortage of turbulence on Earth during the time Brightman was contemplating heading off into space, so she wanted “Hymn” to be a source of comfort for listeners.
“I wanted to do something that was uplifting,” Brightman said.
The London Symphony Orchestra appears on 11 of “Hymn’s” 13 tracks, and the disc closes with a reworking of “Time to Say Goodbye,” a 1996 hit duet by Brightman and Italian singer-songwriter Andrea Bocelli. Other guests on the album include French tenor Vincent Niclo and Paul Kalkbrenner, a German electronic musician. Songs from the album will, naturally, be featured in Brightman’s Benedum show. Recent setlists have also included a cover of the Queen song “Who Wants to Live Forever?” and “The Phantom of the Opera” from the blockbuster musical of the same name.
In fact, it was through “The Phantom of the Opera” that Brightman first came to public prominence. The role of Christine was written for her by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, to whom she was married at the time. She played the part on Broadway, and subsequently released albums of Lloyd Webber recordings.
Given her career longevity, it’s not entirely out of the question that one day Brightman will be bestowed with royal honors in her native Britain and be given the “Dame” title, just as singer Joan Sutherland and actress Judi Dench have. Is it something that she ponders?
“I don’t think about it too much,” she said. “It’s lovely to be honored, but I feel like I’m honored by my audience every night.”