This two-disc, 31-track set is a full capitulation of the set Barbra Streisandperformed over the course of her 2006 tour. Billed as her final run of extensive live performances, the tour had the sense of A Big Event about it from the moment it was first announced. Streisand: Live in Concert does not stint on that feeling of importance, from the extensive, photo-heavy packaging to the pair of jam-packed discs. Covering the entirety of Barbra Streisand's musical career, from 1960s breakthroughs like "Funny Girl," "Down With Love" and "People" to later career highlights like "The Way We Were" and "Evergreen" to a trawl through the catalogue of standards.
As always on her live albums, Streisand's extended stage raps are included: two riffs on the author William Saroyan and the art of songwriting are particularly enjoyable. Though perhaps not as spellbinding as Barbra Streisand was at the peak of her musical powers three or four decades before, Streisand: Live in Concert shows how remarkably little her vocal gifts and her skill as a live performer have diminished. Indeed, there's a magical, regal effortlessness to much of this set. Sample listen