Elly Roberts reviews
Sarah Brightman: Live From Las Vegas
Distributed by
EMI
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 5995949
- Running time: 210 minutes
- Year: 2004
- Pressing: 2004
- Region(s): All, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Stereo
- Languages: English
- Widescreen: 1.78:1
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £17.99
- Rating: 4/10
- Extras:
Making Of, All Access backstage video tour, Multiple camera angles, photo
gallery, Harem quiz
Sarah Brightman made a dramatic entrance into the world of popular music
fronting disco troupe Hot Gossip in 1978.
I Lost My Heart To A Starship
Trooper became a disco anthem. Since then, she’s turned into an actress,
classical singer, and along the way married Andrew Lloyd Webber. Now, she’s
highly rated as one of the greatest voices in the business.
Filmed on 13 March 2004 at the MGM Grand Arena in Vegas during her Harem World
Tour, she predictably puts on a great singing performance. Using state of the
art technology, 20 cameras, the world’s largest camera crane (100 feet long),
64 microphones capturing every sound in the band, it still fails to impress as
a viewing experience.
This highly stylised and theatrical presentation is so far removed to what’s
going on outside the show. As thousands of punters pit their wits in the
gambling capital of the world, a feline and lean Sarah Brightman goes through
the motions giving a vocal masterclass. The crescent and star-shaped stages
joined by an extra long thrust provide the settings.
Dancers help out with the routines which are Eastern flavoured, belly dancing
etc. It’s all very atmospheric, slick and distinctly British in its direction
by David Mallet, who’s worked with Cher, Celine Dion and the Three Tenors.
She emerges from song to song like a ghost, as she flits from stage to stage.
There’s raised platforms and a host of other gimmicks. It even has a subtle
decadence, but as an armchair viewer I got bored very quickly, as there’s
not enough ‘entertainment value’, basically because of the slow pace and
length of the show.
It is a wonderful record of what would have been a great live experience, but
at no stage does this transfer to a watchable DVD.
Of course there’s some very nice bits, and the singing is excellent, but not
enough of them. She got a standing ovation, which considering the conservative
nature of the crowd, was quite remarkable.
Highlights include Queen’s Who Wants To Live Forever, Nessun Dorma, Nella
Fantasia, Phantom of the Opera and Time To Say Goodbye. Worst part - singing
Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World on an elevated swing!
The CD album,
Harem,
is a better choice for listening.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
