Somehow Brightman holds this all together with her shimmering soprano. At the songs climax, showers of metallic confetti shoot out into the house while spotlights rake the audience and the final chord brings a burst of pyrotechnics. Procol Harums Whiter Shade of Pale is preceded by curtain of sparkling fireworks and all the stops are pulled out for Question of Honor, with Brightman suspended 20 feet above the stage in a flying harness. In contrast ∿iglio Perduto, based on the second movement of Beethovens Seventh Symphony, has a chorus in monks habits on the backstage platform accompanying Brightmans soaring soprano front and center. Brightman sings it simply and effectively from the top of the staircase, center stage. The opening song, for example, is La Lune - with music by Dvorak and lyrics translated from the original Czech into Italian. The music is an appealing and often fascinating mix of classical, new age and European pop numbers, staged in a style that varies from tastefully simple to Las Vegas extreme. If nothing else, the La Luna tour scores points for thematic consistency. Theres even a rising harvest moon and, in the second half of the concert, a giant, illuminated sphere. On stage the musicians are seated behind a hemispherical flat decorated to suggest an ancient navigation instrument while behind them a giant scrim is lit to present a star-studded dome, a sunset, or whatever else seems appropriate.
From the moment you enter the theatre, youre immersed in ambient sound suggesting vast moonscapes complete with the occasional burst of astronaut chatter and treated to a continually changing light show on the translucent stage curtain. The concert draws heavily on Brightmans most recent CD, La Luna, and in fact nocturnal and lunar themes permeate the show.
Of course, the fact that she sang it from the top of a platform completely draped in red with her head framed by a halo of stars that lit up at the arias climax didnt hurt any. Granted, she may not be entirely up to the demands of operatic standards like Puccinis "Nessun Dorma", which caps the first half of the evening, but she made it thrilling nevertheless. Her voice is light, attractive and supple - which, now that I think of it, describes Brightman herself fairly well. While I dont share that degree of enthusiasm, Ive got to admit that I found Brightmans concert interesting, entertaining and even occasionally moving. During her concert appearance at the Fox this Monday even relatively modest numbers were greeted with waves of applause and the standing ovation at the end went on long enough to cover yet another costume change and a fitting for the flying harness for her first encore, Question of Honor. While soprano Sarah Brightman may not qualify as a diva by the usual standards - she doesnt try to create a larger-than-life persona on or off stage, for example - the degree of adoration showered on her by her fans more than compensates. The_Doge's Theatre Reviews - Sarah Brightman: La Luna Sarah Brightman: La Luna Fox Theatre
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