Music diva Sarah Brightman is coming to China.

As part of the Asian leg of her Harem World Tour 2004, Brightman will give five concerts in China. The first stop is Hong Kong on May 28, followed by two concerts at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on May 30 and 31. She will then make appearances in Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Brightman expressed her great expectations for the China tour during an interview with Chinese reporters, although she admitted that she knows little about the country and was surprised to know she has many fans here.

"It's my great pleasure to sing in Beijing. To tell the truth, I have not been to China and all that I know about the country is from my friends," Brightman said.

"I once watched a few documentaries about China. I know Beijing has a very long history and profound culture, the Great Wall and ancient palaces."

Brightman also said she hopes to learn more about China and its culture and music during the tour, so that she can incorporate Chinese melodies into her new works.

The 24 songs she will sing at the concerts include nine tracks from her latest album "Harem," which adopts a Middle Eastern theme as well as her hit singles such as "Time to Say Goodbye," "Dust in the Wind," "Free," "Little Lottie" and arias from The Phantom of the Opera.

According to Guo Xiaoxu, general manager of Beijing Super Variety Culture Development Co Ltd, the Chinese presenting company of Brightman's Beijing concerts, the show is expected to become a visual and audio feast.

"Thanks to innovative set design that reaches deep into the audience, we hope that the audience will leave every Sarah Brightman Harem concert spellbound ... no matter where they are seated," Guo said.

"Throughout the evening, Brightman will take her audiences on a journey, teaching them to fly freely among classical and pop genres and intertwining complicated arrangements ... toe-tapping rock percussion, and a suggestion of Arabian nights."

Everything about Brightman is multi-dimensional, notably her penchant for fusing musical genres and her extraordinary persona.

She is a truer diva in the traditional sense than any of the pop vocalists like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston or Celine Dion.

She has a theatrical background, with career-launching roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Aspects of Love, which explains the range and power of her voice.

While she has a powerful voice, she never pushes or overreaches. Brightman more often compels and even soothes to enchant with an elegant mystery.

"She offers her own form of rock -- soprano belting -- switches to classical and then expertly combines all her identities," commented Beijing-based music critic Li Cheng.

While Chen Zhiying, veteran music editor from Beijing-based Music Week, said: "The way she can reach your soul with her music is nothing less than a mystical experience."

Hardcore Brightman fans are well aware that her singing career began with chart-topping success in the disco genre, and with a dancing career that extended all the way back to her childhood.

Born in 1960 in Berkhamstead, England, Brightman started dancing at the age of 3. Ten years later she made her theatrical debut in Charles Strouse's I and Albert. At 16, she was a dancer on the television series Pan's People and later led the pop group Hot Gossip, which recorded the UK hit single "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper."

In 1981 she was in the cast of Cats and there she met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married in 1984. The next year, she premiered Lloyd Webber's Requiem in New York and London, for which she received a Grammy nomination as Best New Classical Artist.

Their relationship lasted through 1990, during which time Brightman became virtually synonymous with the role of Christine in Webber's phenomenon, The Phantom of the Opera. She also appeared in his musical Aspects of Love. After their divorce in 1990, she toured with "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Concert Spectacular."

Aside from her stage work, Brightman has released several recordings.

Her latest release "Harem," which is spun out of the myths and music of the Middle East, highlights Brightman's soprano tones amid upbeat.

The approach is unique and the result is an impressive crossing over of musical styles. According to press information provided by EMI, the album was officially released in the United States last June and immediately reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Classical Crossover charts.

"Harem" means "forbidden place" in Arabic. Along with the influence of legend and myth, Brightman is just as enthralled by the here-and-now reality of the vibrant music emanating from the Middle East -- the sensuous dance rhythms, the incomparable range of instrumental sounds, and the bold, soaring melodies.

"Harem" continues an important creative collaboration that has shaped Brightman's albums in the past decade; they are all produced by Frank Peterson, who started collaborating with Brightman in 1993.

Brightman and Peterson have written new lyrics for an adaptation of "Cancao do Mar," a classic from Portugal's fado tradition. Brightman hears a connection in the sounds of the Middle East and the ancient inspirations of fado.

"I've loved this song for ages," she said. "In our version, I wanted it to have a contemporary, Arabian Nights feel -- love, the desert, passion and fire, but also with a dance feeling."

(China Daily May 12, 2004)