Live In Concert 2006 (CD - 2007)

Personnel: Brian Koonin (guitar); Laura Sherman (harp); Sylvia Davanzo, Maura Giannini, Ann Labin, Victor Heifets, Victoria Paterson, Denise Stillwell, James Tsao, Louise Owen, Mary Whitaker, Ming Yeh, Antoine Silverman, Cenovia Cummins, Carol Pool, Belinda Whitney, Christian Hebel, Cecelia Hobbs Gardner, Jonathan Dinklage (violin); Kathie Sinsabaugh, Arthur Dibble, Joe Gottesman, Richard Brice, Martha Mooke (viola); Mark Orrin Shuman, Ellen Zoe Hassman, Beth Sturdevant, Marisol Espada, Anja Wood, Deborah Assael (cello); Aaron Heick, Ronald Janelli, Lawrence Feldman, Richard Heckman, Bob Malach (reeds); Robert Millikan, Barry Danielian, Danny Cahn, Bud Burridge (trumpet); Eva Conte, Katy Dennis, Chris Komer, Roger Wendt (French horn); Mark Patterson , Keith O'Quinn, Dale Kirkland (trombone); George Flynn (bass trombone, tuba); Randy Waldman (piano); Robbie Kondor (keyboards); Neil Stubenhaus (electric bass); John "4 Daddman" Robinson (drums); Norman Freeman (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Dave Reitzas.

Liner Note Author: Jay Landers .

Recording information: Bank Atlantic Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (10/09/2006-10/30/2006); Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (10/09/2006-10/30/2006); Verizon Center, Washington D.C (10/09/2006-10/30/2006).

Authors: Nekesa Mumbi Moody; Libby Copeland; Karen Heller; Richard Ouzounian; Elysa Gardner; Jim Farber; Jim Harrington; Dave Tianen; Joan Anderman; Ann Powers; Howard R. Cohen.

Photographer: Kevin Mazur.

Arrangers: Andrew Pryce Jackman; Don Costa; Don Sebesky; Herbert W. Spencer; Ian Freebairn-Smith; Peter Myers; Michael Starobin; Jeremy Lubbock; Marty Paich; Michel Legrand; Ralph Burns; Randy Waldman; Sammy Nestico; Torrie Zito; William Ross; Randy Kerber; Peter Matz; Jonathan Tunick; Douglas Besterman.

This two-disc, 31-track set is a full capitulation of the set Barbra Streisand performed 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. minimize