Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant soprano and a DVD worth owning
Review: Took me awhile to realize that the Sarah Brightman people kept mentioning was the soprano from the original Broadway cast of Phantom. This is her first DVD I've ordered and the wide disparity in reviews here puzzled me until I watched the show.Brightman is a brilliant soprano, in the class I believe is called a "coloratura." Classical pieces and modern work intended to exhibit the beauty of the human voice let her use her talent. One or perhaps two pieces on this DVD are less successful. The song by Brian May of Queen - "Who Wants to Live Forever" - makes a dramatic instrumental statement with a mid-range vocal providing lyric emotion. It does not necessarily require a man, but definitely a mid-range voice with great body. Musical range and depth are not required, or well exhibited by this piece. Arranging it for a coloratura soprano was difficult I'm sure. Certainly the result is not characteristic of Brightman. She stays in her high register for nearly the entire cut, which may be what led to the unkind chipmunk simile in an earlier review. On songs that permit her full range, Brightman is excellent. A second piece exhibits a different problem: I suspect that audio producers are beginning to take for granted multi-channel speaker systems. Listening to the Dolby audio track with a pair of near-studio quality headsets (Sennheiser HD600's) the voices in the duet with Josh Grogan were overwhelmed by the instruments. The headsets were unable to create a strong enough center-channel image. Listening to this piece using the DTS audio track on a six-speaker home theater was completely different. The clarity of a physically separate center channel is sometimes very important to enjoy a vocalist. And that is the case with this performer (or at least this recording). You'll enjoy the DVD on a simple stereo rig, but you'll be immersed and very moved if you have a full set of speakers and a DTS-capable receiver. As I say, this is probably becoming the case with most audio material. You just won't realize the void until you install the extra speakers and a multi-channel receiver. With those limited caveats, I heartily recommend this DVD. A friend suggested it for Brightman's performance of Figlio Perduto, and that piece is indeed beautiful. That cut along with "Time to Say Goodbye" are worth the price of the DVD by themselves, but I also enjoyed the remaining cuts and the show as a whole. (It is a live concert recording.) The title piece (La Luna) and the several cuts from Phantom are noteworthy. I particularly enjoy the building drama of the pieces from about the middle section to the end. A brilliant soprano and a DVD worth owning. I came back tonight to decide which of her DVD's to buy next.
Rating: 
Summary: "Live in Concert"???
Review: I was so looking forward to see the concert of the amazing cd of La Luna. So it was with utter amazement and disappoint that it was obvious that she was miming this concert. The question one has to ask is why try pass this off as a "live in concert"when it clearly is'nt.Brightman has a unique voice but watching her going over the top trying to mime made me cringe.I will look forward to a Brightman concert where she actually sings.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Extras of ANY DVD I've EVER Seen
Review: First, let me say that I am a avid (rabid?) Sarah Brightman fan, and I think the La Luna CD was the slickest, sweetest, neatest thing a fan of Sarah could possibly want. It featured crystal-clear audio (and a hidden song at the end) of cool new versions of favorite songs. But more than that, the cd absolutely reeked of high quality. It featured gorgeous full-color photos printed on ultra-high quality glossy paper. Just what am I getting at exactly? The quality of this dvd makes the cd look like a preview, and the extras completely blow away the extras of every other dvd I have ever seen (well, except maybe the Star Wars Episode 1 dvd and the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs dvd). What makes this disc so special? Well, first of all, it's regionless. That means it should play on any dvd player in the world. Then there is the sound. We have not only dolby digital, but also DTS and PCM. Nice. Then, there is the interface. Menus are instantaneous. There is no stupid annoying animation in between menus. Are the menus lifeless then? By no means. The menu buttons sparkle and shimmer, and cool music and motion of our girl Sarah play IN THE BACKGROUND. How cool is that? I wish every dvd had menus like this. And now we come to reason why you want this dvd so bad. Extras. This dvd features (according to the back of the case) an 89 min. concert, and 90 min. of extras. Whoa. And not some stupid low-budget movies like you get on most dvds. Oh no. On this dvd you will get to watch everything from a cool music video to the mastering of the dvd's sound. Absolutely EVERY aspect of the concert tour and the dvd's creation is covered by a cool documentary that you will actually want to watch. So there you have it. This is the best concert DVD I have ever seen. Heck, it's one of the best dvds I have seen. EVER. And it definitely gets a 10 out of 10 for extras. If you are a Sarah Brightman fan, this disc is a must-own. Definitely worth the price.
Rating: 
Summary: La Luna VHS...missing some stuff bigtime!
Review: Last year, I bought the VHS. The editing is so poor, of all Sarah's concerts. The video is too short, leaving out a lot of the "better" extras. I really expected to find "Winter In July" and all the others on the VHS, even after already reading the song list on the net. That was because I was dumbly hoping it was just a typo, but it was stated everywhere. I brought La Luna home, and felt like it was completely different from the real concert I went to. When I went to see her here in Montreal, the audience was more appreciative, especially in the front row. The sound is fine, but the songs are over-edited. I don't like the rude editing job of the beginning of "A question of honor". It goes from the cut off end of "The Music of the night", right into "AQOH". Considering the wait for this concert to come out in the strores, Angel Records should have made a lot better effort in giving the fans what they wanted. With no behind the stage/curtains tour, no special features makes this VHS pretty dull. I wouldn't recommend this La Luna VHS to anyone except those who don't own a DVD player. It's the third time I have ever disliked a Sarah Brightman/Brightman related item. It's all about the editing. If not for that, the VHS would have been slightly less than reasonably acceptable. I do like the idea that they didn't forget to add the little leaflet with all the cast and muscians info. I do hope whatever kind of Tour VHS/DVD Sarah releases in the future, comes with everything, and no bad editing. Hope my review helped you.
Rating:
Summary: La Guapa de Sarah
Review: Combining an excelent voice with a sexy personality produces a pleasent and interesting work.
Rating:
Summary: My best DVD concert!!!
Review: Not enough words to describe such excellent performance by Sarah. The best voice in the best songs. If you really love to listen to music and watch an exceptional performance in the calm of your home you may have this concert
Rating:
Summary: LA LUNA - A MASTERPICE FROM SARAH BRIGHTMAN
Review: LA LUNA - LIVE IN CONCERT. I saw the concert in Forum, Copenhagen, November 2000.
The concert and the DVD are fantastic. Sarah is incredible and has definitely the best voice in the world - ever. The songs are so beautiful and the choreography is fabulous. ALL SONGS ARE OF COURSE LIVE - SARAH DOES NOT USE LIP-SYNCHRONIZING IN HER CONCERTS. The sound and picture on this DVD are perfect. There are 3 sound systems to choose between. The opening song WINTER IN JULY has a good rhythm and makes a wonderful atmosphere.
HIJO DE LA LUNA is a very beautiful song. FIGLIO PERDUTO and PIE JESU are two church mess songs. The songs move your emotion when you hear Sarah's voice.
Sarah sings LA LUNA and LA CALIFFA with her incredible bright voice. Nobody sings NESSUN DORMA better than the world greatest soprano: Sarah Brightman. In DELIVER ME and A QUESTION OF HONOUR, Sarah is floating in wires. A QUESTION OF HONOUR starts with the opera aria: LA WALLY and pass into rock/pop with a fantastic lightshow and confetti, with Sarah singing and turning around in the wires. This is the most impressive part of the concert. When I hear Sarah sings A WHITER SHADE OF PALE, I wonder why the radio stations always play the old original song. Sarah's version is much more beautiful. The song is both as a music video and live on this DVD.
THERE FOR ME is a wonderful duet with Josh Groban. WISHING YOU WERE SOMEHOW HERE AGAIN one of the most beautiful songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber and one of Sarah's signature songs. This song has always been one of my favourite, ever since I first heard it. Sarah sits on the edge of the scene when she sings MOON RIVER and looks so lovely and beautiful. The final song TIME TO SAY GOODBYE is even better when Sarah sings it solo. LA LUNA - LIVE IN CONCERT is as good as ONE NIGHT IN EDEN. They are better than any movie or CD. You can enjoy them over 1000 times and you will still be impressed every time. SARAH there is NO ONE LIKE YOU - WHAT MORE DO I NEED?
Rating:
Summary: A Sweet Intoxication!
Review: Under the clouds of the night, an orchestra plays as a beautiful woman sings at the top of stairs covered with fog. Gracefully, as she descends, she enraptures us in the haloed embrace of her song. From that subtle entrance, Sarah Brightman's mastery of French song sets the eternal theme her concert "La Luna". She warns us not to let life pass you by like "Winter in July" and sings of "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" in the medieval classic "Scarborough Fair". As she sings Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever" she can bring tears to your eyes on wind swept fields of love and warmth and after capturing us with her spell binding voice, she graciously thanks us for joining her this night and introduces her next song. "Hijo De La Luna" or "Son of the Moon" is that song, a sad story that leads to the first "La Luna Interlude" from which Sarah returns as a ballerina in a music box. "Figlio Perduto" is a powerfully sad song that Brightman emphatically carries to such an emotional level, that it reaches the heart and soul even if you don't understand it's Italian lyrics. I had tears in my eyes when she finished singing it! In the concerts title song "La Luna", Sarah weaves her voice through the strings of violins with unimaginable grace, as if she were making a fine silk garment. After singing of the Lady Caliph, we are introduced to a sad song that is dedicated to children who have lost their lives in political conflicts. "Pie Jesu" is a prayer in Latin for Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world, to grant us peace. Following the second "La Luna Interlude" we find Sarah standing tall and haloed like an angel with stars. She now sings in angelic fashion "no man will sleep" in the song "Nessun Dorma". A graceful transition is made from an angel and Sarah now appears as a Celtic Princess, arrayed in a crown of jewels, bracers, a breastplate of steel, and a royal purple skirt. As she floats around an orb, not unlike the planet Jupiter, she sings, "Deliver Me" to a pop score, a song that ends with her asking, "Won't you deliver me?" with such feeling that you want to stand and yell "YES! I will deliver you!" Down from the rafters, she now holds her warriors spell bound with "He Doesn't See Me". The stage grows dark; all is quiet except for the keyboard. A fog fills the room and sparkles fall from the sky, Sarah slowly spins like a little girl in a dream. Here is the song, which impelled me to purchase this DVD and worth it's proverbial weight in gold. Sarah's cover of Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" gives this song new meaning and is the very best version of this song I have ever heard. The entire DVD is worth it, just for this song. But that's not all! "There for Me" is guaranteed to make all those couple present feel warm and fuzzy toward their loved one as she is joined by the power of Josh Grobin as he enters singing: When it's blowing cold and all the city streets are grey
Walking all along and watching how the children play
Voices on the wind and faces from the past all dancing by
They're asking why.... And then they sing together: Are you still there for me? Every time I go away
Are you still there for me? Thinking of me everyday
Are you my destiny? Words I never dared to say
Are you still there for me? I held my wife a little tighter as they sang! "Twisted in Every Way" leads into the "Phantom of the Opera Suite" in which she sings "Little Lotti", "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", and "Music of the Night" which brings the crowd to their feet and she teases us by leaving through parted stairs. She floats above these stairs a moment later to sing "A Question of Honour", a powerful song that Sarah successfully sings in Italian with operatic style and then fluidly moves into English with pop style. The curtain closes and again Sarah returns to take a bow, with the crowd on it's feet in applause, she sits on the edge of the stage and does her version of "Moon River". When the song is done, she gets up and as she walks out she looks over her shoulder with a devious little smile. Of course she returns to tease us again with a "Time to Say Goodbye" which ultimately ends the concert in a standing ovation. Sarah Brightman's concert "La Luna" is not for those who take music lightly or are afraid to feel passionately about something. Its power is manifest from the opening song to the final farewell.
Rating:
Summary: Watch this goddess in action....
Review: Watching the Sarah Brightman (Live In Concert) La Luna DVD was both a wonderful and trying experience. I love it because now I can see her in concert whenever I want to but I also hate it because it reminds me of how I missed the opportunity to see her live. By the time I realized that she would be playing in southern California it was too late. All the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes. It bothered me for a long time but at least I have this, which is better than nothing. I don't think that this particular concert is as good as Eden but there are some moments that come very close to changing that perspective. "La Wally/A Question Of Honour" was an amazing spectacular of Sarah flying in the air while doing flips and singing majestic high notes with confetti falling onto the crowd. And while many might think that impossible (for most opera singers just stand in place, completely immobile as to work their support system which involves squeezing the stomach) you can tell that Sarah isn't lip singing. There's just no way that she can distort the face without actually carrying out the notes... She's also suspended above a crystal ball on "Siren/Deliver Me". But instead of doing daring flips through the air she just hovers there with her beautiful lilac gown hanging below her feet. Newcomer Josh Groban also joins Sarah Brightman on a dazzling duet where they slow dance together on "There For Me" while flairs of fireworks shoot down from above to give the effect of falling stars on "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" where she twirls around like the moongoddess she is. "Winter In July" is another amazing song to watch for because she's dancing in these huge high-heels while doing all these strange movements with her arms which gives it a very ethereal feel. "Scarborough Fair" follows that song (just as it does on the CD) with the local symphony accompanying the folktale. I didn't find the costumes on La Luna to be as risky as they were on Eden but she does wear this huge flowing gown (or drape) of crimson red that tumbles down a flight of stairs with a huge star soaring above her head with the moon in the background on "La Luna". She also wears a xena-like warrior costume for powerful songs like "Hijo de la Luna". I only wish that she would have sang more from "The Phantom Of The Opera Suite". "Music Of The Night", however, was utterly breath-taking, even with her minor breaking of the vocal cord which proves once again that she's not lip singing like so many accuse her of doing. And by the request of the audience she closes the set with her solo version of "Time To Say Goodbye" as the crowd rises for a standing ovation.... This DVD also includes "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" music video with the mixed ATB version, a backstage tour as well as behind the scenes of Sarah's photo shoot for the La Luna album, the recording of the CD, after-show- party footage (where everyone's trying to get Josh Groban to drink), and much much more. This is one DVD that all Sarah Brightman fans should own.
Rating:
Summary: Prediction
Review: I may not have seen this DVD, but I predict that this is an unforgettable concert. Sarah Brightman has truly a voice of an angel, making the songs more enchanting than ever. Also, she sings a lot of classical songs, most of them are what I'd consider as Angel-like. I swear that if I had watched this, I would watch it again and again and again and again and again...
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