I attended my first concert ever when Sarah was in Reno this year. From the first step inside the auditorium, she "assaults" your senses immediately with a giant incense burner filling the stadium and brilliantly colored lights focused on a huge exotic curtain. I didn't know what to expect at all. I had paid $75 for a ticket and was hoping I'd get my money's worth.

Wow!! Did I get my money's worth!

Dancing girls, an elaborate, somewhat abstract stage, phenomenal lighting, and here comes little Sarah down the runway ramp. Little -couldn't be 5 feet tall- Sarah with this HUGE voice pure as liquid light.

My favorite songs were It's a Beautiful Day, Dust in The Wind, La Luna, Free,Time to Say Goodbye and the one that literally brings down the house: A Question of Honour, where tons of colored confettie falls from the ceiling drawing in the audience and the show DOES end with a "Bang", a huge white explosion. I was so jazzed I would have gone out and bought another ticket if she had given two performances. The audience was ecstatic and all of us were shouting "encore!" Never had so much fun in my entire life. Such talent, such class!! Sarah is a class-act unlike the drug addled rockers and borderline singers like Madonna. I am now a bonified Brightman fan and will drive 500 miles to her nearest live performance.

Buy this beautiful CD, hear this out-of-this-world voice. Sarah can take your mind off the violence prevelant in the world today. Thank you, Sarah!

P.S. I just watched "Kama Sutra: A Tale Of Love", a very well directed story of a fatal love affair between a Raja, his beautiful consort and her artist lover whose love for her kills him. Remarkably, the lovers' theme was the music Sarah Brightman opens her show with (Cut#1). Rent or buy this excellent (extremely sexual-hence the title)1996 movie and see where she got some of the ideas for her wonderful show.

Having seen Sarah's Harem concert in NYC, I was quite excited to hear about this live CD and 2-disc live DVD release. Having purchased the CD, I was overall pleased with this new album. Sarah's singing, as always, is spectacular and beautiful, whether moving from dance-Euro-pop to her special way with "operatic" materials. It's interesting to hear the difference in her voice between a perfectly controlled and produced studio recording and a live, at-the-moment performance. Sarah does not disappoint as a live performer, visually or aurally. Some of these live renditions, "Nessun Dorma", and "It's A Beautiful Day, to name but two, are actually superior to her studio versions. There are times however, when Sarah, trying to produce a fuller "operatic" sound to her voice, resorts to "scooping" before hitting certain notes (in this concert, it occurs during parts of "La Luna" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", and also to be heard on her studio recording of "O Mio Babbino Caro", found on her "Classics" CD, as examples). This "technique" is not used too often and, when not employed at all, her singing retains it's clarity, brightness, power, and ethereally magical sound. It is a shame, as others have noted, that the "Harem" live version selection is terribly cut short, and there should have been more of the "Harem" material included. However, what is on this CD is beautifully sung, expertly produced, and acts as a perfect album for the Brightman fan or a newcomer to Sarah's incredibly magical and sexy universe. I found myself repeating "Dust In the Wind" over and over, Sarah's singing being infinitely moving. The bonus "studio" track, "Snow On the Sahara", is simply another Brightman classic. Sounding like it may have been recorded during the "Harem" album sessions, it just whets my appetite for the next (and hopefully soon!) Sarah Brightman studio album.

Luigi in NYC.

Classical/pop star Sarah Brightman has become known for her spectacular concerts -- and they're pretty good even when you can't see them. "Live in Las Vegas" brings the allure of Brightman's live performance through, with an array of her better songs (and a couple of new ones).

Opening the album is an acoustic-led, vaguely sexy little tune called "Kama Sutra," which is a new creation just for this concert. It's followed by a chunky, percussion-heavy mix of the "Harem Overture." But the bulk of songs on here are old favorites: the windy strings of "Who Wants To Live Forever," the throbbing "War is Over," the ethereally trippy "Whiter Shade of Pale," and even the gothic, organ-led "Phantom of the Opera," a medley of songs from the hit musical. As an extra treat, a studio track called "Snow on the Sahara" ends the concert album -- a sweet little pop tune with a rich string accompaniment.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in this CD is that you'd expect the "Harem World Tour" to feature more material from her latest album. Most of the songs are from "Eden" and "La Luna," with a few from "Harem." However, she also did that in her prior tours. And her choice of songs can't be faulted -- these are some of her most gorgeous songs.

However, don't expect them to sound too different from the album versions -- except "Harem Overture," which is mysteriously cropped down to a much shorter length, and "A Question of Honour," which has been watered down somewhat. It has lost its hard edge in favor of a more operatic sound.

A lot of live performances suffer on live CD, thanks to audience noise and bad sound production. Thankfully, "Live in Las Vegas" doesn't suffer from either. The audience is reserved except for a few bursts of applause, and the sound production is very good except for that slight tinniness that the few offstage sounds have.

Brightman's ethereal soprano gets a thorough workout in this concert, and she doesn't disappoint even once. She's backed by an orchestral collection of keyboards, guitars, lutes, sitars and the Harem Orchestra for those gorgeous sweeping string melodies. In a word, even when Brightman isn't singing, it's a thrill to listen to the music. Oh yes, and it had a cannon too.

Sarah Brightman's performance in "Live From Las Vegas" is quite good, with her ethereal vocals and strong musical backing. Just sing a few more songs from "Harem," okay?

From the first note of the entrancing opening song, "Kama Sutra",I was immediately taken back to that glorious night when I was in the audience at Sarah Brightman's "Harem" concert in Washington D.C. This beautiful CD includes the highlights from the magnificent "Harem" show. Sarah's ethereal chameleonic voice is in top form as she effortlessly sings through operatic classics like "Nessun Dorma" and Dvorak's "La Luna" and goes into new age pop songs like "It's A Beautiful Day", "Dust In The Wind", "Free" and "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". The breathtaking "Phantom Of The Opera Overture" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" will send chills down your spine and the magnificent "A Question Of Honour" will for sure get you singing along with it's dark heavy drum beats, catchy chorus and Sarah's operatic voice flying above it all. The new studio recording featured at the end of the CD, "Snow On The Sahara" is yet another Brightman/Peterson masterpiece. Absolutely gorgeous with Sarah's light ethereal voice and Middle Eastern strings.

A DVD of this Harem concert will be released on October 19th and Sarah is returning to the United States with her Harem concert. Tickets are on sale now. Do not miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity. Visit www.sarah-brightman.com for ticket information.

So, it doesn't matter who you are or what kind of music you listen to, you will enjoy this album. Give the incredible voice of Sarah Brightman a listen.

I first knew about Sarah several years ago when she released her version of "Dust in the Wind." Then, recently I managed to see a "Harem" TV special, and I was completely sold. So, finally, I got some Sarah in my collection now. This concert is definitely an amazing experience, I will definitely get the DVD. The sound is clear as a bell, and it goes without saying that Sarah's vocals are spine-tingling. I am falling in love with what has been labeled as "cross-over" - pop-ish, yet kinda exotic music with Sarah's incredible soprano soaring above. The perfect example is on "A Beautiful Day" in which she uses both her opera and "straight" vocals to great effect, creating what is to my ears a very unique and refreshing contrast. Sometimes it does go a bit far for my taste into techno/dance territory, but that is forgivable. Thankfully, the material is balanced out with some straight-up opera. I think Sarah has carved a nice little niche for her, in which her diverse talents are really given room to roam. If this concert does not make a fan out of a newcomer to Sarah, nothing will.