PopSyndicate.com

Opera singers don’t often breakout as superstars among the bourgeoisie, but lightning struck twice with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway spectacular The Phantom of the Opera, which ripped the mask off to reveal the world’s definitive Phantom and Christine, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Brightman astonished crowds with her earth-shattering voice and it has enabled her to release over ten assorted albums over the last decade. Now Brightman returns with Diva: The Singles Collection and Diva: The Videos Collection, which serve as a greatest hits of sorts for the songbird.

The Singles collects fourteen tracks from Brightman’s catalogue, while The Videos showcases twenty music videos. Typical for Brightman, the songs on both collections range from more traditional opera like “Pie Jesu” to new agey adult contemporary like “A Question of Honour.” There’s no question why Brightman is the star that she is; her voice is merely strong on most tracks while your mouth will hang agape on others.

There’s also no question that Brightman has a flair for melodramatic storytelling that borders on smirkable at times, even allowing for early to mid-1990s primitive production values.  After viewing all of Brightman’s videos, what’s clear is that simpler is better for the songstress. The lyrics for “Captain Nemo” (DVD only) come across as trite, but the video only amplifies it. The video for “Question of Honour” also leaves you questioning the question. The highlight of The Videos is “Ave Maria,” which is to put it simply, unexpectedly sexy.

Phantom fans will be disappointed by the version of “Phantom of the Opera” on both collections, which features a non-Crawford Phantom that borders on campy on the audio and dives over the cliff on the video. But, Sarah redeems herself with a Lloyd-Webber-traditional rendition of “Music of the Night” on the album and a wonderful live performance of the same song. Also included on both is Brightman’s duet with Andres Bocelli for “Time to Say Goodbye,” which is ear candy but not as tear-jerking and powerful as the original “Con Te Partiro” (both of which are featured on Bocelli’s must-have album Romanza).

Ultimately, the problem with The Singles is the variety of The Videos. The Videos span every phase of Brightman’s career, and doesn’t leave you wanting, whereas the album does. A better balance would have been a touch more traditional opera, only one Phantom song and perhaps one more song from the more mature half of Brightman’s career.

Both The Singles and The Videos are great starting places if you want to introduce someone to the legendary diva Sarah Brightman before pushing them into works like Eden and Harem. Those sporting their own pair of lorgnettes will probably already have all of these tracks on hand.

Genre: Popera/New Age
Sounds Like: Enya with power
Best song: “Music of the Night”, “Con Te Partiro”, “Ave Maria”

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