Barbra Streisand Live in Concert 2006 Bluray 720p [MP4-AAC](oan)
 
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A singularly impressive concert film, a record of Barbra Streisand's 2006 tour and shot mainly
during performances in Sunrise, Florida, Streisand features a phenomenal late-career
performance by the singer-actress and sometimes-director, while the film of the event - codirected
by Streisand as well - is both intimate and epic, capturing the excitement and
synergy between artist and audience exceptionally well. The Blu-ray disc is also impressive,
with excellent video and audio, some good extra features, and well-designed menu screens.
The show, also known as Streisand: Live in Concert 2006 was broadcast April 25 on CBS;
this network airing apparently is the reason behind the Blu-ray's delay in the U.S., as it's
already available in the United Kingdom. We received a check disc for this review. (Note:
Reader "tlw404" informs us that it "was delayed until June due to an arrangement with Barnes
and Noble for an exclusive sale.")

Full disclosure: I should say right up front that I'm not at all enamored of Barbra Streisand's
movies - in both her musicals and non-musicals, in films she's directed herself and those
directed by others, she tends to overwhelm with her presence, arguably sacrificing
verisimilitude for the sake of what generally have been post-Classical Hollywood star-driven
vehicles. There's nothing wrong with this per se - in one sense Streisand's movies were much
like Marlene Dietrich's of the 1930s, or Doris Day's in the 1950s, and it would be unfair to
condemn her for wanting to take as much control over her projects as she could get. But as a
biopic Funny Girl has less to do with Fanny Brice than Barbra Streisand, and while movies
like Yentl and Nuts certainly pleased Barbra Streisand fans, for more general audiences
they're just not very credible.

Streisand the concert, on the other hand, is an ideal venue, and ideally suited to the uniquely
talented diva. She's clearly feeding off her fans and in return she gives them one of the best
performances of her career. Sixty-four at the time, her voice is still strong if throatier (she still
hits those amazing high notes on "People") and her interpretation of the songs' lyrics has the
kind of maturity that can only come with age. Barbra herself jokes about getting older, though
she looks great.

As filmed, the program opens with the Overture from Funny Girl while onscreen there's a
montage of the stage being set-up, and there are brief interviews with excited fans entering
the area. (An older couple who saw her perform "Happy Days Are Here Again" when she was
17 wonder if she'll perform it again that evening. She does.) There's also a pretty incredible
montage of Big Name celebrities arriving to watch the show (Oprah, Tony Bennett, Stephen
Sondheim, Tom Hanks, Bill and Hillary Clinton, etc.) - including a brief glimpse of Streisand's
actor-husband, James Brolin.

The stage, intended to resemble a smoky nightclub, apparently, is an odd jumble of railings
and platforms - it looks like where they keep the tractor beam on the Death Star, or maybe
the kind of labyrinthine line you have to go through to get to those E-ticket rides at
Disneyland. Streisand is backed by a full orchestra conducted by her arranger, Bill Ross. The
multinational, operatic pop vocal quartet Il Divo, a somewhat annoying boy band-type group
for old fogies created by Simon Cowell (yes, the) is featured on a couple of songs*, but
otherwise Streisand dominates, as well she should.
 
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The program is as follows:

01. Funny Girl Overture [Original Broadway Version]
02. Starting Here, Starting Now
03. Down With Love
04. The Way We Were
05. Ma Premiere Chanson
06. Evergreen [w/ Il Divo]
07. My Way [Il Divo]
08. Come Rain or Come Shine
09. Funny Girl
10. The Music That Makes Me Dance
11. My Man
12. People
13. The Music Of The Night [w/ Il Divo]
14. Jason Theme
15. Carefully Taught/Children Will Listen
16. Unusual Way
17. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?
18. Q & A Stoney End
19. Happy Days Are Here Again
20. [Have I Stayed] Too Long At The Fair?
21. The Time Of Your Life
22. A Cockeyed Optimist
23. Somewhere [w/ Il Divo]
24. My Shining Hour
25. Don't Rain On My Parade
26. Smile


::General::

Format: MPEG-4
File Size: 2.57 GiB
Overall Bit Rate: 3 497 Kbps
Duration: 1h 45mn
Sample: NO
Subtitles:NO

::Video Info::

Container: avc
Video Codec Type: x264
Video bitrate: 3 000 Kbps
Resolution: 1 280 pixels X 720 pixels
Aspect ratio(AR): 16:9
Quality Factor(QF): 0.136
Frame Rate: 23.976 fps
Source: Not Sure 1080p.Thanks!!

::Audio Info::

Audio Language: English
Audio Codec: AAC
Bitrate Mode: Variable
Bitrate: 576 Kbps
Maximum Bitrate: 1 728 Kbps
Sample Rate: 48.0 KHz
Channel(s): 6 channels
Channel positions: Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE

;)