Pop diva returns to Tallinn

  • 2004-04-15
  • By TBT staff
TALLINN - For some it will be a dream come true, and for others the realization of their worst nightmare. Well, love her or hate her, pop soprano Sarah Brightman will be flexing her vocal muscles when she comes to Tallinn for a one off Baltic date on April 24.

She'll be performing songs from her new album, "Harem," which marks a whole new musical direction for Ms. Brightman, who has abandoned classical crossovers for an Eastern-inspired sound. But needless to say the operatic pop diva will still perform all the old favorites for her adoring audience.
The concert organizers promise that Ms. Brightman's Tallinn concert, which is scheduled between shows in St. Petersburg and Helsinki, will be the most spectacular indoor concert ever held in Estonia. When she performed for the first time in Estonia at the Linnahall concert hall in 1999, the show completely sold out and so, by the look of it, will this one.
Certainly, one might say that "Harem" is a slightly more original sound for Ms. Brightman (perhaps she was inspired by Turkey's success in Eurovision). Middle Eastern-inspired samples can be found in almost every song on the album.
"Harem" is also the name of one of the album tracks, a catchy little number driven by a Turkish disco sound, and which is as sweet as the talk of a street salesman trying to flog a souvenir to a German tourist somewhere in Hurghada.
The song's video features camels, a desert (but of course), the Taj Mahal, belly dancing and various other Middle Eastern paraphernalia, and is certainly a ripe product for MTV rotation. The pop diva temporarily gives up any idea of gender equality and plunges into the haremlike atmosphere of the video that might have been shot at the palace of some ultrawealthy Saudi Arabian sheikh.
Another of the songs is spiced up by Kadim Al Sahir's vocals, and Nigel Kennedy's violin graces a couple of others. The song "It's a Beautiful Day" is made up from Puccini's "Un Bel di Vedreno," mixed with synthetic beats and Arabic samples.
Ms. Brightman's solo career is about to undergo another change as she plans to focus on composing, according to recent media reports. The 43-year-old singer and dancer started her career by performing disco songs and dancing in Britain. Then came the musical roles - along with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brightman's former husband, who gave her the leading role in the world famous "Phantom of the Opera."
But today the woman who once "lost her heart to a starship trooper" is still the queen of the genre where classical music and opera style performance are packaged as palatable pop music for romantic housewives the world over.

Sarah Brighman.,
April 24 Saku Hall,
104b Paldiski Rd., Tallinn.
Concert begins at 8 p.m.
Tickets 28 euros to 63 euros, available at Piletilevi.