Music Review NYTIMES
A Sentimental and Glorious Brooklyn Homecoming for Streisand
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: October 12, 2012 Comment
Those words sung by Barbra Streisand from the “Sunset Boulevard” showstopper, “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” elicited a roar of welcome from the sold-out crowd at the 19,000-seat Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday evening.
Ms. Streisand’s return to her roots for two concerts (the second on Oct. 13) was a sentimental homecoming and a royal act of noblesse oblige in which a show-business monarch regaled the adoring subjects of her native province in a concert that was steeped in Brooklyn lore. With lyrics revised to mention “Brooklyn docks and nova lox” and “knishes,” the song conveyed a message that was reiterated again and again: deep inside, I’m just a commoner like you. As she bonded with her flock, her Brooklyn accent seemed more pronounced than ever.
Ms. Streisand’s voice, at 70, is still singularly compelling, although not in prime condition. As it has lowered and acquired an occasionally husky edge, her high notes have disappeared. Even the upper register of “People” challenged her. The days are long gone when Ms. Streisand projected the fearless bravado of a vocal prodigy skipping over a tightrope. The Streisand of 2012 is a vulnerable if imperial semi-operatic diva who carefully conserves her power.
In spirit, the concert, during which she was supported by a 60-member plus orchestra conducted by Bill Ross, was a family and neighborhood affair that included a short film, shot some years ago, in which assorted Brooklynites who knew Ms. Streisand back when, reminisced. Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top,” was outfitted with new lyrics to be a celebration all things Brooklyn.
Who knew that Jason Gould, her 45-year-old son by the actor Elliott Gould, was a polished crooner who could comport himself comfortably in an arena? His home movie of photographs of the two them from infancy into adulthood preceded his performance of “This Masquerade” (reminiscent of George Benson’s late ’70s recording) and a touching mother-son duet of “How Deep Is the Ocean?”
One of the evening’s most glorious moments joined Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do?” and Rodgers and Hart’s “My Funny Valentine,” in a duet by Ms. Streisand with her special guest, the pop-jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. His silvery tone and trailing phrases combined with the orchestra infused both songs with an aching film-noir melancholy.
Mr. Botti was also involved in two of the evening’s low points, a showpiece for trumpet and drums based on “When I Fall in Love” (of all inappropriate songs), and a soupy trumpet and violin duet with Caroline Campbell.
Also on hand was the Italian teenage trio, Il Volo, which has been called a cross between the Jonas Brothers and the Three Tenors and who delivered a polished, impassioned “O Sole Mio.”
Other memorable moments were segments celebrating Ms. Streisand’s professional relationships with Marvin Hamlisch and Jule Styne. Her rendition of “The Way We Were,” sung with Mr. Hamlisch’s original orchestration was in a word, exquisite. The Styne portion led off with “Being Good Isn’t Good Enough,” from the 1967 musical “Hallelujah, Baby!” that led to a fragmentary medley of songs from “Gypsy,” delivered with an appropriate ferocity.
“Being Good Isn’t Good Enough” is the sensational first cut on Ms. Streisand’s newest album, “Release Me” (Columbia), a collection of outtakes from her recordings going back to the 1960s. Originally chosen to open her 1985 “Broadway Album,” it was replaced by Stephen Sondheim’s “Putting It Together,” in retrospect not a good choice.
Another high point of “Release Me,” is the Jimmy Webb torch song, “Didn’t We,” which she also performed with intense feeling. A bare voice-and-piano version of Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” recorded in 1970 with the composer at the piano anticipates the stripped down sound of her 2009 album, “Love is the Answer.”
The most recent outtake, “If It’s Meant to Be,” by Brian Byrne and Alan and Marilyn Bergman recorded for her last studio album, “What Matters Most,” is stronger than much of the material that was left off the record. The Bergmans, who are also Brooklyn born, were exalted in a suite whose high point was “The Way He Makes Me Feel,” from “Yentl.”
Late in the show, Ms. Streisand tackled “Here’s to Life,” that autumnal summing up and looking back ballad that has become the de rigueur anthem for singers over 60. Hearing Ms. Streisand sing “I had my share, I drank my fill/ And even though I’m satisfied, I’m hungry still,” I connected them to one of her earliest recordings, “Much More,” from “The Fantasticks,” in which an innocent girl dreams of going “to town in golden gown.” Ms. Streisand went there, was crowned queen, and drank more than her fill.
Appetite, yearning, curiosity — whatever you call it — is a quality embedded in Ms. Streisand voice. Like few singers of any age, she has the gift of conveying a primal human longing in a beautiful sound. She is hungry still.
Updated On: 10/12/12 at 08:38 AM
