English soprano Sarah Brightman [ tickets ] has released a collection of genre-defying albums during her 30-year career. "Fly" celebrated pop-rock. "Classics" returned her to form singing arias, and "Symphony" touched on her gothic influences. The common thread: She spills herself into the music.

"I'm very involved in the albums and my tours," said Brighton via telephone from a German recording studio. "Everything actually comes from me--the ideas, the visuals, the thought of what the album is. Although I do sing a lot of older music, there's a little bit of my soul coming out and giving. Maybe the general public picks up that it's not just a songbook that's being put together by an A&R person or a producer or whatever. There's a huge amount of the artist in all of this work. It might be a subconscious thing, but I think that's why I've kept this fanbase for all of these years."

Earlier this month, Brightman released her second album of the year. "A Winter Symphony," her first Christmas album, includes "Silent Night"; John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)"; Neil Diamond's classic "I've Been this Way Before"; and Abba's instrumental "Arrival," which Sarah Brightman turns into a vocal version for the first time. She performs a couple of duets as well: a resplendent performance of "Ave Maria" with Fernando Lima, and "Carpe Diem," on which she is joined by Mario Frangoulis. Backing her on "A Winter Symphony" was the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Symphonic Orchestra, as well as a 46-piece choir.

Brightman, the former wife of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and famously known as Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera," spoke to LiveDaily about her Christmas album, working with KISS' Paul Stanley and her groundbreaking new tour.

How did you chose your songs for the holiday album?

I always love Christmas and that time of year. For years and years, I've had an idea of what I wanted to do on a Christmas album. Although there's a huge repertoire to choose from, it didn't take me long in the choosing of it. I had great fun making it because I really, really wanted to do it. I can't believe it. I've wanted to do it for the long time.

What do you like about Christmas?

All of the things. I suppose that's probably why I chose the different types and styles of songs that I did. I love the whole family thing with Christmas because I have a huge family. I like the spiritual side of it. I like the sense of humor side of it. There should be a lot of joy in Christmas. The giving, the eating. It's the only time of year which, if people allow themselves, you really can let go. Forget everything. Forget your work. Forget your worries. Enjoy the short time which we're given. There's no other time like it.

This is your second album of the year. For your first, "Symphony," you worked with Paul Stanley on "I Will Be With You." What was that like?

Oh, he's lovely. He's a lovely man. He's a very intelligent human being. He loves the arts. He's quite different than his image portrays him. But he's great. I asked him to do that particular song because I knew that he had done a stint on "The Phantom of the Opera" in Canada. I needed somebody that had that rocky type of voice and that persona he has on stage, but actually be able to sing the notes of the song. It is a quite a complicated one vocally to do, although it doesn't seem it. It is actually quite difficult to sing and make work. Because he had done "Phantom," I knew he'd have the notes there. That was one of the reasons I asked him to do it.

Tell me about your songwriting process. Do you write in the studio or when you're inspired?

The ideas just come when I'm feeling inspired. Usually, writing tends to come when I'm sitting with somebody, with another writer. We'll spend the day together, either being in their apartment or in the studio, then we'll go out and have lunch and talk about it and things come out of that, then you come back again. It's usually a process, which writers always understand. It follows a pattern.

What can we expect from your tour?

I'm using a new technology which hasn't been used to this scale before on stage, which I think will surprise people. It's new, so obviously things that are new, they're only at the beginning of their life and they speak of things that are to come. I remember going to see things where I saw the first LED effects, or I saw the first projections. Although they weren't perfect at that time, they did speak to what was to come in the future for live work. I'm kind of at that beginning stage with this particular technology. For me, it's also going to be really, really interesting to see how it pans out. It's taken many months of preparation and work on it. It's been quite an exciting different project. However, I think the audience will have an experience with it. It should be good.

This fall, you're starring in the musical thriller "Repo! The Genetic Opera." How did you get involved with that? It sounds like a lot of fun.

It is. It came up out of the blue. I was in the middle of the first "Symphony" album and I got a call from the director, Darren Lynn Bousman, who I knew of because I do, in fact, like the "Saw" movies. He just said, "You're perfect for this part. I'm just starting to do this movie. Would you come and do it?" [I said] "I don't know. I'm in the middle of an album at the moment." He said, "Just listen to the story of it and I'll explain the character." After he explained it to me, I thought, "You know, this sounds perfect for me. I love it." So I dropped everything, went to LA and started the movie. It was an interesting part. It's set in the future. It was an interesting piece. Whether it's everybody's cup of tea I'm not sure--me being very English there--I think it's a great piece of work.