Her first studio album for five years since Harem, Symphony features all new songs and is recorded in Germany and produced by her long-time producer, Frank Peterson. For those of you familiar with Sarah Brightman, deserving superstar of the music world, you will already have most, if not all, of her albums, and the question will only be: Should you be adding this one to your collection? While Harem may have enchanted new and long-time fans (though I must confess to giggling at her dancing on the DVD), many more have professed their undying devotion to their songstress with Symphony.

The distinctive sweet and breathy voice with its unearthly range has fared well with the years and has lost none of its ability to melt and uplift the listener’s heart. Perhaps the songs in Symphony are not all that emotionally engaging as those on Classics or Eden, but they are all technically brilliant, well-conceived, and brilliantly and seemingly effortlessly performed by the aptly-monikered Angel of Music.

The atmospheric opener Gothica leads straight into Fleurs Du Mal, inspired by Baudelaire’s eponymous poems. Brightman’s soaring vocals backed by a pounding beat packs a real punch and will captivate you with ease. This in turn dissolves into the lush titular Symphony, much softer, gently introspective and haunting.

Songs in this newest album range from gentle ballads like Let It Rain to the rock-scored I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go), the latter originally performed as the theme song to Pokemon Movie 10: The Rise of Darkrai. There’s even an interpretation of the classical work Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets. This last, named Running, starts off with the listener thinking, Oh yes, I’ve heard that on the traditional (for the Brits) Last Night At The Proms, with Blake’s immortal verse from Milton, but then halfway through all hell breaks loose and you’re left gaping at the beat, the energy and, yes, the innovative turnabout, which then turns around again. What a fitting end to an album that mixes pop with hard rock and classical, and turns everything on its head.

There are no fewer than four duets: Canto Della Terra, with Andrea Bocelli; I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go), with Paul Stanley from Kiss; Sarai Qui, with Alessandro Safina, an Italian version of Faith Hill’s There You’ll Be; and Pasion, a tender ballad with Mexican counter tenor Fernando Lima. As you can see from the duets alone, Sarah Brightman’s vocal linguistic expertise is well-showcased in this album, also the first to include a song sung in German, Schwere Traume.

Style is what Brightman has in abundance, and she proves it not only in her songs but also in the CD’s accompanying booklet where she dons several sexy costumes that will draw the drooling admiration of her male fans. I’m not too crazy about the cover photo of the booklet (she looks somewhat wooden against that mock-gothic background), but the inside photos with her in various stunning costumes, continue and expand on the gothic and fantastical themes, and are beautifully rendered, especially the one with her in white with a blue background.

All in all, this is an album for both new and established fans, though newcomers will want to get her Classics and Eden as well.

Tracks:

Gothica
Fleurs Du Mal
Symphony
Canto Della Terra (duet with Andrea Bocelli)
Sanvean
I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go) (duet with Paul Stanley)
Schwere Traume
Sarai Qui (duet with Alessandro Safina)
Storia D’Amore
Let It Rain
Attesa
Pasion (duet with Fernando Lima)
Running