Columbia 63778 (2 CDs) Original Release: September 19, 2000
Reviewing Barbra Streisand’s Millennium Eve presentation of Timeless at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, I called it "a brand-new, original Broadway-style musical…2 hour-long acts featuring 35 songs, 60 musicians including conductor-arranger Marvin Hamlisch, a 10-person supporting cast, dancing, comedy, drama, poetry, and a handsome 4-tiered stage design. Add a considerable book written by Streisand and Kenny Ortega (also Barbra's co-director), and Timeless is certainly her largest and most demanding, if not her most extraordinary, to date." Needless to say, I was dazzled by that in-person performance (read my original review), and I am now similarly impressed with the much anticipated Columbia recording.
Clocking in at just over two hours, the two CDs comprise the best performances and moments from Barbra’s 12/31/99 and 1/1/00 Vegas shows, with generous portions from the latter, a simulation of Millennium Eve for audio and video recording purposes featuring more relaxed and freewheeling spoken intros and asides. From the strikingly crisp sound of the opening ticking clock and the Nola Recording Studio sketch’s clear channel separation for the actors, it’s apparent that this live album, Barbra’s fifth, will be her very best, at least technically, if not artistically. Dave Reitzas has recorded and mixed this album masterfully. "A Sleepin’ Bee" is particularly notable for its gentle blend of warm strings, banjo, horns, and crystal clear vocals. "Lover, Come Back To Me" is loud and brassy, literally, with the trumpets and trombones at full throttle. Turn this one up! Act 1’s "Alfie" and "Evergreen" offer lush, surrounding strings, gentle bell percussion, and stunningly dramatic singing. Album producer Streisand and mixer Reitzas make "A Piece Of Sky" another sonic standout, allowing the Streisand/Yentl/Frost three-part harmony to soar in celebration, which elicits an overwhelming audience response.
Act 2 opens with people chuckling in the crowd for about 20 seconds in excited anticipation of midnight. Listen for conductor Marvin Hamlisch’s baton tapping just before the Entr’acte. The "Duets" section works terrifically on CD, despite some awkward editing, which excises "Crying Time" (with Ray Charles). "Technology" is Barbra’s comedy dialogue with Randee Heller (as her mother) and a monologue about her stage’s hydraulics and the old days of TV channel controls ("Do you remember knobs?). Next, in the "The Clicker Blues" (by Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch) Barbra reads a one-minute comic poem – Internet or interface/ Download upload database/ Pixel shmixel cyber speak/ They may as well be speaking Greek. Certainly "The Main Event"/"Fight" is one of the show’s highlights, with a rollicking mix worthy of a disco single. And, yes, included are Barbra’s excited asides to the audience once the Duracell flashlight wands begin waving.
Midway through Act 2, Barbra’s costume change is omitted, at least for the CD, appropriately tightening things a bit. "Dialogue (Father, Part #2)" features some lovely piano and strings playing "All Of My Life" while Barbra reads her father’s poem. Her monologues are virtually free of white noise, electronic hums, and sound cleaner than many live recordings. "I’ve Dreamed Of You," still the most moving segment of the show, sounds precious, offering Barbra’s precise syllable enunciation and blown kiss to husband James Brolin. Right into "At The Same Time," another memorable concert moment comes to life on this impeccable recording. The choir, larger than on the Higher Ground studio version, breathes even more emotion into the Ann Hampton Callaway song and sounds angelic on their six songs. The insert booklet credits Bob Esty as arranger and conductor of the Sydney Philharmonia Choir & Sydney Children’s Choir, whatever that may connote.
The New Year’s Eve celebrating brings me right back to that exciting evening, with music, confetti, fireworks, and dancing all bursting out simultaneously on stage and throughout the arena. Six minutes, including Barbra’s cast introductions, works perfectly on this recording. "Friends" has been retitled to "Everytime You Hear Auld Land Syne," perhaps not to be confused with other songs called "Friends." I don’t think Barbra could have sung "Happy Days Are Here Again" any more fervently or powerfully than she did on New Year’s Eve and this recording.
The 2-CD brilliant box package itself is beautifully designed, with a rose theme and the perfect color coordination we’ve come to expect from Barbra. 17 new photographs, portraits and concert shots, pack the 24-page insert booklet. Jay Landers has written an informal full-page diary of the 12/30/99 dress rehearsal and other texts are reprinted from the Timeless concert program. Three great photos are reprinted from the program as well, the Funny Girl and Wholesale b&w portraits and Annie Leibovitz’s 1994 "Barbra reading The New York Times" color portrait. Timeless – Live In Concert is an exceptional record of Barbra Streisand’s Las Vegas Millennium performances, thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end. - MJI, 9/17/00
© 2000 Mark J. Iskowitz
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