Barbra Streisand concert
We went to the Barbra concert last night, and it was wonderful. She is such the consummate performer, creating such unbelievably brilliant music, and yet at the same time making everyone feel at ease with her, like she’s really your friend.
She is still the same Babs, with superhuman control and soaring high notes that make you want to leap from your seat. She has that incredible ability to sing softly, making you lean forward to listen, then grow surely and steadily into a crescendo that gives you good bumps. I’m in love.
I will say that she was a bit raspier than I’ve heard in recordings, and she did seem to be slowing down a tiny bit, but she was still 10x better than any other vocalist I know.
The only mar in the program was the awful Il Divo quartet. Imagine 4 opera singers doing Unchained Melody – ugh. They also did Unbreak my Heart, and My Way, and almost destroyed both songs for me. They were slightly better as a backup band for Barbra, but not much.
I found the Bush impersonator quite funny, and the material was obviously quite recent given the election less than a week ago. Barbra shows her true colors as a left-leaning Democrat.
I thought the mix of songs was great, with a number that I hadn’t heard, but still enough of the old favorites to keep the audience roaring. I know it was expensive, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
