Her sixth offering since she left a successful career in musical theater, and became Mrs. Webber for a short time, Sarah Brightman regales in her new album; It seems she has tired from the solitude of writing and the solitude of performing alone. To perhaps overcome this solitude, Brightman ropes in orchestral musicians from Prague and Cairo, as well as virtuoso instrumentalists many traditional performers from all over the world, who open up their imagination and their songwriting to encompass bigger band sounds resulting in a Middle Eastern feel through the entire album. Also joining in is Ofra Haza and our very own Shweta Shetty.

Harem means ‘Forbidden place’ in Arabic. On Harem, Brightman opens up well. Throughout it can be noticed that the only problem is that her most stirring performances come normally when her arrangements are the quietest. The title track dramatizes the scope and imagination of the album and is an adaptation of Cancao do Mar a classic from Portugal’s fado tradition, which results in a great dance feel all over. Brightman also excels on the well - traveled pop feel good anthem, the Louis Armstrong classic What a wonderful world, done a little edgier here, tinged with melancholy.

The spirited Brightman even reaches into the world of grand opera, of Puccini’s Un bel di to spark off a brilliant It’s a Beautiful day. The pumpy The Journey Home brings in Indian film composer A.R.Rahman’s contributing a track from his West End Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams, a track which is surely repayable.

All 14 songs are well crafted and sweetly sung. Some other ensemble performances that are surefire standouts would be the luminous The War is Over, a song that embraces an end to the conflicts in love, that eloquently wings Brightman together with Iraqi signer Kadim Ali Sahir as well as the classical violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy. Moving on, there’s Gueri de Toi/Free that lends a French connection to the album. Originally written in German about the cathartic end of a love affair, the French translation made it easier to make the song in English. The gentle commentary on violin gives the track an even greater intensity. There’s also the medley Arabian Nights that begins slowly and picks up. Lastly, Stranger in Paradise bathed in Eastern atmosphere again, circles back to Russian composer Borodin’s voluptuous Polovetsian Dances for its rich orchestral textures, and cradles Brightman’s lucid singing.

Given the gorgeous and eloquent majesty of this album, Brightman’s latest effort is spine chilling, genuinely sweet and can bring a tear to your eye. On an album that touches the heart, feeds the soul and captivates the mind, Brightman invites us to experiences life at its fullest, some where out there in the Middle East. Let’s accept it.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira