There are not many operatic sopranos who can sing Nessun Dorma while suspended 60 feet in the air night after night and make it sound fabulous.

Any mortal singer would have to take the next week off to recover. But not diva Sarah Brightman, 48, who seems to have turned her concerts into a high-flying Olympic event.

"It takes a lot of passion, planning and a huge amount of preparation to tour like this," says Brightman in a crisp British accent about A Winter Symphony, which comes to Scotiabank Place tonight.

Being Brightman -- the singer who was once married to the king of Broadway musicals Andrew Lloyd Webber and who herself originated the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera -- performing means that every live concert has to be as big as a Cirque du Soleil show.

For A Winter Symphony, she's bringing a large classical band and cranking up the staging with elaborate 3-D projectors that create dimensional images of forests, oceans and snowing Christmas scenery.

"The staging this time is a real jewel. It's a journey through magical worlds.

"I have to pace myself to get through it. Even now, I am totally focused on singing," the soprano with the three-octave range says.

The world she's happy to inhabit, at least until Dec. 24, is Canada, which she counts as her No. 1 market.

"I love touring Canada this time of year," she says. "When we saw the snow in Montreal, we felt like celebrating Christmas early."

In the new concert, Brightman mixes Christmas-oriented songs with favourites from her eight solo recordings, including Ave Maria, Nessun Dorma, La Luna and Time to Say Goodbye.

Speaking of big shows, last May she was approached by Chinese officials about singing the Olympic theme You and Me at the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"The first thing they asked me was if I was afraid of heights," she laughs. "They needed to know because they wanted me to sing while perched on top of a globe. It was great. I felt really honoured to be a part of history."

Tickets for tonight's show are available at the Scotiabank Place box-office and online at www.capitaltickets.ca for $85 and $125. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.