Some notes on Sarah Brightman's
La Luna concert video

 
To shorten the main page about the La Luna concert video and to remove the not so important bits from that page, this page gives:
This page contains:
=   notes on the release versions of DVD and VHS
=   concert broadcasted by PBS (USA)
 
See the main page for:
=   some personal comments
=   contents of the concert
=   thanks, links and such

 

 

Release versions of DVD and VHS

 
American release
The VHS (which contains only part of the concert as the list taken from the web site of Amazon.com shows; see track lists) was released on 13 March 2001, and the DVD on 5 June 2001.
 
European release
The DVD was released in Europe on 3 September 2001.
The VHS video for Europe is available too, at least via NLstore.nl (a Dutch site), and like the USA version it contains an abbreviated version of the concert.
 
 
About TV systems and DVD region encoding
There is a difference between the American TV system (NTSC) and that of most of the rest of the world (PAL/SECAM). This means that VHS videos cannot simply be exchanged; and even if your VCR can show the video of the other system, your TV must be able to handle that too.
 
As for DVDs, there is also the region coding, preventing exchange of DVD across the world in most cases. The La Luna DVD from the USA is region free (according to the case), but it is NTSC only (USA version) of PAL 4:3 onlu (European version)!
American DVD-players can in general not play the PAL/SECAM system, but some European DVD-players can show the NTSC system (the TV must be able to do that too, of course).
 
One big hurray for world standardisation and care for the interests of the consumer !!
 
For more on this DVD problem, see section [1.19] of the excellent and very extensive DVD FAQ by Jim Taylor (465 kb!!); and see also this map World indicating DVD regions

 

 

The concert as it was shown on PBS

In December 2000 several stations of the American public TV system PBS broadcasted a video registration of Sarah Brightman's La Luna concert, recorded in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 4 October 2000. Perhaps it is this concert that is released on video.

I am told that the PBS video did "not exactly follow the concert as we saw, and the costuming and some settings are also different. BUT...it is great! She performs every song and hits every note with perfection. (...) Time to Say Goodbye and Nessum Dorma are even better than when we saw her Eden concert." [Link and italics by me.]

 
The PBS Web site gave the following video contents, which differs a little from the DVD (see the list at the main video page) and thus also from the full programme of the concert:

La Luna  |  Winter in July  |  Scarborough Fair  |  Who Wants To Live Forever  |  Hijo De La Luna  |  Figlio Perduto  |  La Califfa  |  Pie Jesu  |  Nessun Dorma  |  Moon River  |  Siren  |  Time To Say Goodbye  |  Whiter Shade of Pale  |  He Doesn't See Me  |  There For Me  |  Phantom of the Opera  |  Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again  |  Music of the Night  |  Deliver Me
From the PBS Web site I would like to quote the following:
Sarah Brightman's worldwide popularity continues to grow. August 2000 marked the beginning of Brightman's global 60-date "La Luna" tour, starting in Brazil, spanning three continents and ending in Poland. The performance special, SARAH BRIGHTMAN: LA LUNA IN CONCERT, features new selections from her latest CD, which debuted at number one on the Classical Crossover Chart and is now in the top 20 on the Pop Charts, and familiar favorites. The program airs on PBS as part of the December 2000 pledge drive (check local listings).
 
Brightman's repertoire is expansive, ranging from Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" to a traditional rendition of "Scarborough Fair," popularized by Simon and Garfunkel. She will introduce American tenor Josh Gronin in a duet on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" and Angelo Lazionda's "There for Me." Brightman will be joined for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu" and Mozart's "Figlio Perduto" by a 12-piece choir. Her lyrical adaptation of Dvorak's "La Luna" is the title and opening track of the program.
 
The spectacle of SARAH BRIGHTMAN: LA LUNA IN CONCERT will be captured via seven cameras, with more than 6,500 fans at the National Car Rental Arena in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The lunar visual theme, costumes and lighting promise to be operatic and dramatic.

<=== La Luna concert video page

<=== The Sarah Brightman main page  /  concerts page  /  CD index  /  lyrics index

 
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created: 28 September 2001
last modified: 20 November 2003