This was originally posted at the Words & Music blog.
Oh, all you oversingers, divas and Canadian Idol hopefuls. You missed a master class in how it?s really done when Barbra Streisand hit the Bell Centre stage Wednesday evening for the fourth stop of a 12-night tour.
In the course of a generous, almost epic performance ? two and a half hours, not including intermission ? the singer?s singer showed that, at 70, her impeccable phrasing and razor-sharp control are pretty much still intact.
The excitement started rippling through the well-to-do crowd before Streisand even took the stage, as an opening montage tracing her growth from childhood to young pro led into an overture from Funny Girl. And suddenly there she was, singing As If We Never Said Goodbye. ?Talk amongst yourselves, I?m getting verklempt,? she said mid-way through the song (students of Saturday Night Live will remember).
From that point on, the show was, in a way, flawless ? in part because even the flaws were planned in this tightly-scripted show. Guilty, supposedly sung in response to a fan?s request during an Ask Barbra Q&A session ? as if the full orchestra was just going to wing it ? was on the set list before the show. And so was I Finally Found Someone, at which Streisand feigned surprise and ?struggled? to remember the song.
But such is Streisand?s incomparable professionalism that she was able to make the spontaneity and intimacy seem real. And such is her relationship with her fans that they listened rapturously, as if they were sitting across from her at that small table with flowers on stage. (In what might be a first, incidentally, promoter Evenko refused to divulge how many of those fans were in attendance.)
The artist-audience bond was felt big time in Streisand?s between-song introductions, which gave crucial background information to The Way He Makes Me Feel, from her film Yentl, and put context to a powerhouse medley of Jule Styne songs from Gypsy and Funny Girl. A tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, featuring The Way We Were and Through the Eyes of Love, was prefaced with personal reminiscences and illustrated with photos of him and Streisand (A tribute to Donna Summer, featuring No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) is also performed in some shows, but was dropped here.)
There were duets with and guest appearances by teenaged Il Divo clones Il Volo, trumpeter Chris Botti and Streisand?s son, Jason Gould, who did some fine singing. When Gould walked off, Streisand voiced her maternal pride, cast her eyes heavenward and mouthed ?Thank you.?
But all eyes were on Babs and impatient for her to get back each time she ceded the spotlight. No one can own a room like that, and ? pop star divas take note ? no fireworks, fetish clothing, bumping-and-grinding choreography, obnoxious melismatics or any other cheap attention-grabbing stunts were used to pull it off. Never were. Streisand has always done it with elegance and a peerless voice. She is truly, it seems, the last of her kind.
After a larger-than-life finale of the Leonard Bernstein ballad Make Our Garden Grow, featuring all the guest artists and the Montreal Choral Institute, and a haunting solo version of Some Other Time, Streisand brought out her sister Roslyn Kind. The two ended the night by reviving Streisand?s immortal moment with Judy Garland, a slow-burning 1963 duet blending Happy Days Are Here Again and Get Happy.
It was the exact right ending to a night of show biz perfection. Accept no substitutes.
Set list:
1. Opening film montage (song: You?ll Never Know)
2. Funny Girl Overture
3. As If We Never Said Goodbye
4. Nice n? Easy/ That Face
5. The Way He Makes Me Feel
6. Didn?t We
7. Smile (with Il Volo)
8. Un Amore Cosa Grande (Il Volo)
9. O Sole Mio/ It?s Now or Never (Il Volo)
10. Question and answer segment
11. Guilty/ I Finally Found Someone
12. The Way We Were/ Through the Eyes of Love
13. Being Good (Isn?t Good Enough)
14. Jule Styne medley: Rose?s Turn/ Some People/ Don?t Rain On My Parade
Intermission (with video for the song Barbra Streisand, by Duck Sauce)
15. Opening film montage (reminiscences from hometown people)
16. If You Go Away/ Ne me quitte pas
17. What?ll I Do/ My Funny Valentine (with Chris Botti)
18. Lost Inside of You (with Chris Botti)
19. Evergreen (with Chris Botti)
20. Emmanuel (Chris Botti with violinist Caroline Campbell)
21. When I Fall In Love (Chris Botti)
22. Film montage, prepared by Jason Gould for Streisand?s 70th birthday (song: Nature Boy, sung by Gould)
23: How Deep Is the Ocean (with Jason Gould)
24, This Masquerade (Jason Gould)
25. People
26. Here?s To Life
27. Make Our Garden Grow/ Somewhere
Encore:
28: Some Other Time
29. Happy Days Are Here Again/ Get Happy
bperusse@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @bernieperusse
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