7-16 萨拉·布赖特曼：音乐天使

Sarah Brightman：Angel of the Music

 

Born August 14, 1960 in Berkhampstead, England, Sarah Brightman stepped into the world of performing arts at the early age of thirteen. She made her theatrical¹ debut² by starring in I and Albert at London's Piccadilly Theatre, in 1973. At 16 years of age, she joined the British dance group Pan's People and found herself performing on the television show Top of the Pops.

 

A mere³ two years later, Sarah's career was propelled¹ a step further when she landed a spot as lead vocalist with the musical group Hot Gossip. That very same year, they hit it big with the top 5 British hit I Lost My Heart to a Starship² Trooper³.

 

A short while after joining Hot Gossip, Sarah returned to her theatrical roots, when she joined the original cast of Cats. She performed in this ever popular musical for a year, and then in 1982, she took things to a whole new level by starring in Charles Strouse's opera for children, Nightingale. While her musical/theatrical career was evidently blossoming, Sarah continued to enhance her skills by studying classical voice training at the Royal College of Music.

 

A few years later, her increasing popularity and talent catapulted⁴ her into some very prestigious⁴ theatrical roles. She premiered⁵ in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem⁵⁶ in London and New York, for which she received a Grammy nomination⁶ as Best New Classical Artist. To top things off, Sarah married Andrew Lloyd Webber during this period; however, the marriage eventually ended six years later, in 1990.

 

While Sarah was married to Lloyd Webber, she created the role of Christine in his theatrical phenomenon, The Phantom⁷⁷ of the Opera. It was initially⁸ released in 1986 in London and was eventually repeated on Broadway in 1988.

 

In 1989, Sarah released her first solo CD, The Songs That Got Away. From this point on, she gradually elevated her career to even greater heights. She released a multitude of ² top selling albums including 1993's Dive, 1996's Fly, 1997's Time To Say Goodbye, 1998's Eden, and 2001’ s Classics.

 

注释：

1. propel [prE5pel] vt. 推进；推动

2. starship [stB: Fip] n. (科幻小说中的)星际飞船，星际火箭

3. trooper [5tru:pE(r)] n. 骑兵；〈澳〉〈美〉骑警

4. catapult [5kAtEpQlt] vt. (猛)投

5. premiere [5premIeE(r)] vi. (名演员)首次露面；首次上演

6. Requiem [5rekwiem] n. (天主教追思弥撒时的)追思曲，安魂曲

7. phantom [5fAntEm] n. 幽灵；鬼魂；幻像

8. multitude [5mQltitju:d] n. 许多(多连用为a～of)

 

萨拉·布赖特曼：音乐天使

 

萨拉·布赖特曼于1960年8月14日出生在英格兰的伯克汉普斯特德。她早在13岁时就步入了演艺界。1973年，她在伦敦的皮卡迪利剧院首次主演了戏剧《我和艾伯特》。16岁时，她加入英国的舞蹈团“潘神一族”，并且在电视节目《流行之冠》中亮相。

仅仅过了两年，萨拉的事业就又上了一个新的台阶，她担任了“流行碎语”乐队的主唱。同年，乐队以英国最佳歌曲前五名的单曲《我爱上了一个宇航骑兵》而走红。

参加乐队后不久，萨拉又回到了她的戏剧根子，成为《猫》剧的第一批演员。她在这部经久不衰的音乐剧中演出了一年，于1982年又将事业推向了一个崭新的阶段，主演了查尔斯·斯特劳斯的儿童歌剧《夜莺》。她的音乐和戏剧事业显然在兴旺发展，但她仍然坚持在皇家音乐学院接受古典声乐训练以提高技艺。

几年过后，她日渐显赫的声名和才华使她有机会扮演一些极负盛名的戏剧角色。她出现在安德鲁·劳埃德·韦伯的《安魂曲》在伦敦和纽约的首次公演中，并因此获得格莱美最佳新古典艺人的提名。最轰动的事件是，她在此期间嫁给了韦伯，然而两人于1990年结束了为期6年的婚姻。

与韦伯结婚后，萨拉塑造了他的戏剧名作《歌剧幽灵》中克里斯廷的角色。该剧于1986年在伦敦首演，并于1988年登上百老汇的舞台。

1989年，萨拉推出了她的第一张独唱光碟《消失的歌曲》。从那时开始，她逐步将她的事业提升到了更高的水平。她发行了许多畅销的专辑，包括1993年的《潜入》、1996年的《飞》、1997年的《告别时刻》、1998年的《伊甸园》和2001年的《经典》。

1 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

5 requiem   

n.安魂曲，安灵曲

参考例句：

• I will sing a requiem for the land walkers.我会给陆地上走的人唱首安魂曲。
• The Requiem is on the list for today's concert.《安魂曲》是这次音乐会的演出曲目之一。

6 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

7 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。