Under a full moon, on a cloudless and slightly cool, spring evening in Salt Lake City, Sarah Brightman returned to the Delta Center after a three-year hiatus and unveiled yet another spectacular concert, Harem.
Before the show, the 7,500 crowd sat in anticipation amidst ornate Persian tapestries that hid the main stage and the more intimate Premium seats (if you were lucky enough to purchase them before they sold out). A large, golden urn sat in the middle of the auditorium on the star stage. One could smell the incense and see the smoke, like wispy apparitions, circle upwards and out from that golden core.
Brightman is a premier entertainer. Her exceptional voice, one of the best this world has ever known, of course took center stage. But the sub-elements of the show were nothing more than equally significant and complimentary, including the well-laid-out stage (complete with a state-of-the-art suspended walkway at the back of the stage); her elegant and alluring costumes; expansive translucent scrims and backdrops; the pyro-technics, light shows, digital video and image displays, and confetti works; her amazing backup and guest vocalists; her backup band (led by the industrial-synth band Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman) and the Harem Orchestra; the talented dancers; and her sound and light crew.
The stage for Harem was well-planned, most likely to create a more intimate setting for the audience. It worked. Many times, as Brightman made her way down the catwalk, she interacted with the fans and the fans returned their appreciation with waves and accolades. Brightman was always gracious and sincere in her appreciation for the warm reception she received throughout the show.
The main stage was shaped in a crescent-shaped moon. Out of the middle of that moon, a catwalk protruded out into the audience toward a secondary stage that was shaped like a star. The crescent moon stage had two floor elevators--for one song, a giant grand piano came up out of the floor; for another song, her backup vocalists and mandalin players came up from the floor. Both stages (moon and star) had hydraulic lifts that lifted Brightman above the crowd 15 or 20 feet. The metal works above the star shaped stage was also fashioned with a rope swing, in which Sarah swung on while singing "What a Wonderful World."
The crescent moon stage also had a suspended half- bridge (walkway) that curved around the back of the stage. One of my favorite moments in the show was when this suspended walkway rotated from the back of the stage to the front of the stage. Brightman, dressed in golden robes, walked to the end of the walkway so she was standing above the crowd and above clouds of mist that had blown onto the stage and covered it up. From atop this dramatic setting, Brightman gave a heart-rending rendition of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" which won her a standing ovation and applause fit for a rock band. Absolutely breathtaking!
Harem was full of memorable moments such as this. Consider the song "There's No One Like You," from her CD "Time To Say Goodbye:" One of the guest vocalists started the song out on the star stage. (If you are familiar with the song, you'd know she was in the act of dying.) Back on the crescent moon stage, Brightman was fashioned with long wings and was lifted up on wires and flown around in front of a lighted backdrop that cast her shadow an expansive translucent scrim, giving the impression she was an angel. Indeed, the imagery in this concert was effective, if not poetic.
Brightman's costumes were more alluring in Harem but she kept a decorum about her that didn't make her display base or raunchy. One of my favorite costumes (and Sarah is becoming the master of this) occurred when Brightman was lifted high in the air and then her skirt grew until the material reached the stage's floor. The amount of material it takes to pull that off is beyond me but I joke that it's probably enough to cover half a football field. You see this and Princess Diana's wedding train is child's play!
As is often the case, fans were more eager to hear the songs that have made her famous—e.g. The Phantom of the Opera's "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again;" "Time to Say Goodbye," and her impressive repertoire of arias, including "Nessun Dorma." But the mix of trance, techno, with Middle Eastern rhythms, sounds, and voices were fresh, hypnotic, and very listenable. Especially impressive was the adapted Puccini song, "It's a Beautiful Day."
Highlights of the show (besides the songs already mentioned) included an impressive rendition of "Dust in the Wind," "Nella Fantasia;" "The Journey Home;" "Beautiful;" "Question of Honor;" and the hauntingly poignant song "The War is Over," which was co-written by Brightman and sung with the Iraqi vocalist Kadim Al Sahir.
Brightman's eclectic repertoire of songs for the concert came from her CD's Time to Say Goodbye, Eden, and La Luna. The majority of songs highlighted her latest CD Harem.
The best tribute I heard to Brightman and her show came from the Graves, who live a block and a half from me. My wife and I ran into them before the show. They had brought their teenage grand-daughter with them.
The day after the show, I talked with them. The husband explained that they have all of Sarah's CDs; and that when he saw the advert about the upcoming concert in the newspaper last October, he showed his wife immediately. She implored: "I don't care what our finances are. We are going to this concert."
"It was worth every penny," he exclaimed with a gleam in his eye and a smile as wide as his face. She concurred.
