Sarah Brightman show hits Everett

Published 7:58 am Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Superstars get exhausted, too.

Sarah Brightman had been performing steadily for about 10 years by the time she finished supporting her 2003 album, “Harem,” she said. She felt tapped out.

“I got to the point where I had to stop for a little while because my imagination stopped working the way it normally does,” she said. “It was great, because it gave me a chance to become very creative and collect my energy.”

This year, she was brimming with ideas. She released two new albums — “Symphony” in January and “A Winter Symphony” in November — co-starred with Paris Hilton in the movie “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” sang at the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony, and now is on her first world tour since 2004, which brings her to Comcast Arena on Sunday night.

“I just had to let a lot out,” the 48-year-old British soprano said.

Brightman spoke with The Herald from Cleveland. It was snowing and windy there, she said, and she was nursing herself back from a flu, using “various sorts of potions” foisted on her.

Something must have worked. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, she “went all out” the following night. The paper’s pop critic, John Soeder, called the show technically impressive, but sometimes cold.

Chalk that up to stagecraft. Critics rarely fault Brightman’s soaring vocals, instead zeroing in on her production. For her current career-spanning performance, she dons several costumes. Sets change. The tour even uses cutting edge technology, with Brightman sharing the stage with holographic wolves at one point.

She said she went high-tech for a reason. She has spent decades on stage; she was the first to star as Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” in 1986. And so she wanted to try something new, to present something different to fans.

She wasn’t concerned about being upstaged by her own production, either.

“Not at all,” Brightman said. “I was very careful, because I only used it to complement, so when one sees it, it’s gorgeous, but it never overshadows.”

Still, like most superstars, criticism follows the soprano. One moment she’s an icon; the next, she’s overbearing. The word “diva” comes up a lot.

Though she has a greatest hits compilation called “Diva,” she holds no strong feelings for the word, which is derived from the Latin term for goddess. It can be a compliment, sure, but she knows it’s not always meant as one.

“Some goddesses were bad, so I suppose that’s the slur on it,” she said. “Bad and difficult, which I don’t think I am.”

Speaking of ill-chosen terms, Brightman shudders at the label popera, calling it “so horrible.” The style combines elements of pop and classical music, typified by chart-topping artists such as Il Divo, Josh Groban, and Brightman herself.

While she doesn’t love the designation, she understands why audiences embrace the sound.

“I think people always love a beautiful piece of music, and they love a beautiful voice,” she said.

On Sunday, they can have just that — plus some holographic wolves.

Reporter Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or arathbun@heraldnet.com.