Friday, October 01, 1999
CONCERT REVIEW
Brightman's lovely voice can't carry show
BY CHRIS VARIAS
Enquirer contributor
Vocal beauty, as an end in itself, has never made for very exciting music. Listening to a pretty voice can be a lot like looking at a pretty flower — maybe a bit stimulating but rather boring.
In music, good material and a charged delivery are often qualities more desirable than a beautiful voice.
Sarah Brightman has a beautiful voice. The English singer, who appeared at the Aronoff Center's Procter and Gamble Hall Wednesday night, used her clear soprano on an array of material sung in different languages. It's a hodgepodge that places her music in the category of “classical crossover.” Only a half dozen tunes stirred the crowd of 2,585, and half of these came from the pen of her ex-husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Three selections by Mr. Lloyd Webber, one from Evita, one from the Phantom of the Opera, one written especially for Ms. Brightman, came toward the end of the 90-minute, two-set show.
When she introduced “The Music of the Night” she noted that Mr. Lloyd Webber, her husband from 1984 to 1990, wrote it for her. The mere mention of her ex's name brought a collective gasp from the crowd. People love that guy. The song received a standing ovation.
When Ms. Brightman broke into the next song, Mr. Lloyd Webber's “Don't Cry for Me Argentina,” the crowd again let out with awestruck noises and gave another standing “O.”
The crowd responses probably had as much to do with feelings for Mr. Lloyd Webber as for Ms. Brightman. Of all the other songs on the night, only a rendition of Puccini's “Nella Fantasia,” the first-set closer, was so well-received.
Ms. Brightman's taste in pop music runs toward Kansas and Richard Marx. She wore a Madonna-style headset-microphone, and six shirtless male dancers were on hand to spin in circles, pick her off the ground and pass her around — sensual choreography in a PBS, Broadway Series, classical-crossover kind of way.
The worst moment came when Ms. Brightman soft-rocked the boat. If Celine Dion's “My Heart Will Go On” is the musical equivalent of sea-sickness, Ms. Brightman's French version of the song is like slamming head-on into the iceberg.
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