Sarah Brightman captivates fans with 'Nella Fantasia'

Sarah Brightman / Courtesy of Eccess ENT

By Park Jin-hai

As the sound of wind meets the audience and the stage gleams with an eerie red light, Sarah Brightman, one of the world’s most popular English classical crossover singers, appears on stage in a glittering silver dress and sings the theme song of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera.”

As she escalates her pitch one after another to the call of the Phantom saying “Sing, my Angel of music! Sing for me!,” the audience of 3,000 remained still, all eyes and ears fixed on the singing diva. Her voice had such power, striking hard and strong at once and yet soft and tender as well.

Brightman, often dubbed the English popera singer with a heavenly voice, kicked off her “Gala With Orchestra” tour at Jamsil Olympic Hall in Seoul, Sunday.

Returning to Korea for the first time in three years, she was joined by a 60-piece orchestra and amazing guests including Mario Frangoulis, with whom Brightman has performed duets in musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera. Joining the two singers were pianist Di Wu, counter tenor Narcis, and maestro Paul Bateman.

“Thank you very much for coming this evening. Tonight I would like to share an intimate evening of music with you the audience by singing some of my favorite songs and inviting to the stage some very famous special guests,” said the singer.

Opening the night with the global hit “Nella Fantasia,” a song inspired by the movie “Mission” (1986), the 55-year-old singer presented a wide selection from musicals, operas and pop songs, transporting the audience for the whole 120-minute concert into a dream-like experience.

The singer, who debuted at that age of 13 with the musical “I and Albert,” sang her most beloved numbers, including “Anytime Anywhere” and “ It’s a Beautiful Day.” She also sang the duets “Carpe Diem,” “Canto della Terra” as well as the pop song “Dust in the Wind” and the aria “Nessun Dorma" from Giacomo Puccini’ opera Turandot.

The highlight of the nearly-two hour concert was “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Time to Say Goodbye,” the lovely piece widely known as Brightman’s duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Responding to the overwhelmed fans, she returned to the stage for encores of “Warsaw Concerto,” where she held a baton and conducted the orchestra, and “Running.”

Even though the program had ended, fans didn’t leave the concert hall for a while, giving standing ovations as Brighten returned to the stage again and again to thank her fans here.

She will perform at Daegu's EXCO convention center on July 26 and the Gwangju Universiade Stadium on July 27.