Streisand new album ( Movie Partners sing Broadway)

[jo]

You can now listen to the entire album in this NPR upload --

www.npr.org/2016/08/18/490258191/first-listen-barbra-streisand-encore

The sweeping "Any Moment Now," sung with Hugh Jackman, is from a stage adaptation by A Chorus Line composer Marvin Hamlisch of the brilliant 1975 beauty-pageant mockumentary Smile.

[jo]

Posted by someone on BWW --

Barbra's Tour#168
Posted: 8/17/16 at 1:37pm


I noticed at Saturday's concert in Brooklyn a disclaimer on the wall informing the audience that the show was being filmed and that by entering you agree to being videotaped.

[jo]

A candid and insightful review of the album ENCORE : MOVIE PARTNERS SING BROADWAY --

forward.com/culture/348571/why-i-still-love-barbra-streisand-even-if-her-new-duets-album-encore-falls/

Why I Still Love Barbra Streisand — Even If Her New Duets Album ‘Encore’ Falls Flat
By Liam HoareAugust 26, 2016getty images




My love for Barbra Streisand is one whose month is ever May. Her idiosyncrasies are to be cherished. Only Streisand could be forgiven for shooting “The Prince of Tides” showing just one side of her face or having Stephen Sondheim rewrite lyrics entirely for her benefit. I tend to refer to her as Babs, not merely for brevity, but as a sign of my undimmed affection. I include this by way of contextualization, to soften some of what is to follow. For, while marvelous at many things and in many ways, Streisand has never been the most charitable duet partner.

Her tendency has been to view duet not so much as collaboration but competition. Michael Crawford found that out when Streisand belted atop him, as he descended mournfully towards the bridge on his signature song, “The Music of the Night.” I’ve often thought the subtitle of “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” must have been a late, passive-aggressive addition by Donna Summer. Arguably, the only duet partner Streisand has ever been entirely comfortable with is herself. Just listen to “One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home” or “Mother and Child,” if you don’t believe me.

It is peculiar, then, that in the autumn of her career Streisand — her voice raspier but its capacity undiminished — has developed a fondness for duet. Her last effort, “Partners,” hit number one on release in 2014, but the quality of the work was questionable. There were one or two compelling collaborations, including one with Michael Bublé who remarkably (as a friend said at the time) was allowed to sing the words “For all your faults…” to Streisand herself. But most of it was a dreary and ill-conceived rehash of songs that were much better to begin with and the dated arrangements had the handprints of Babyface, one of the album’s producers, all over them.

Still, Streisand has persisted and returns to us with a much better effort, “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” albeit something that’s the musical equivalent of a packet of Skittles. The concept for “Partners” — insofar as there was one — was Streisand’s supposed desire to sing with male performers (which, frankly, is difficult to believe). With “Encore,” things are slightly more muddled: pairing up with Hollywood actors and actresses on Broadway songs. Since show tunes has often been fertile terrain for Streisand in the recording studio (see under: “The Broadway Album”), I’ll let the conceit slide, in order to focus on the material.

The commendable thing about “Encore” is certainly the track selection. She delves deep into the back catalogues of Sondheim and Marvin Hamlisch, pulling out musical theater songs that one wouldn’t have expected to hear on a mainstream pop album. Surprise selections include “Take Me to the World” from Sondheim’s made-for-TV musical “Evening Primrose” and “Any Moment Now” from an unproduced version of “Smile,” Hamlisch and Howard Ashman’s lost musical based on the 1975 movie about a California beauty pageant.

But the quality of the album depends on the interpretation of those songs, which is what gives “Encore” this assorted feel. “Loving You” — from Stephen Sondheim’s darkly romantic musical “Passion” — is a particular disappointment. In the context of the show, “Loving You” is a bare and intense devotional from a tempestuous, sickly woman who would die for her love and truly believes that, one day, the object of her desire will see what is beautiful about her. But the emotional power of the song just drains away in Streisand’s hands, reimagined as a break-up ballad with the creamily bland Patrick Wilson.



Other duets, too, feel ill-conceived. Though Streisand has tinkered with the lyrics to give them a feminist edge, her duet with Melissa McCarthy with its cheap arrangement does nothing to alter my view that “Anything You Can Do” from “Annie Get Your Gun” is long overdue retirement. Chris Pine is her partner on “I’ll Be Seeing You/I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and his derivative sub-crooner performance is as petrified and wooden as his surname might suggest. Doubling up with Seth McFarlane on “Pure Imagination” transformed an enchanting, flighty song from the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” into one that felt as if it would never end.

The sometimes stilted dialogue on these tracks unintentionally reveals that they were clearly recorded apart, but one mustn’t be too mean as for every dud on “Encore,” there is a gem — mostly in duets with actors who truly grasp the genre. Streisand pairs up on the aforementioned “Any Moment Now” — about longing and a marriage in disrepair — with Hugh Jackman, a treasure that both Hollywood and Broadway should appreciate more. Against my better judgment, I was charmed, beguiled even, by Streisand’s soft-shoe patter with Alec Baldwin on Sondheim’s “The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened,” and somehow like jelly on peanut butter Jamie Foxx’s silken melisma works with Streisand on the hymnal “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Streisand duets album without her upstaging someone. The highlight of “Encore” is “At the Ballet” from “A Chorus Line” and she invites Daisy Ridley and Anne Hathaway to sing with her. Setting aside the audacity of asking Ridley to play a character who never felt beautiful except at the ballet, where “every prince has got to have his swan,” it is Hathaway who is on the receiving end of Streisand’s vocal kneecapping. As the song crescendos towards the instrumental climax, Hathaway reaches for and hits the high note of her life, only for Streisand to come in with and over her at a far lower and attainable pitch. Hathaway is then faded out, unbelievably, while Streisand continues merrily, blasting out her own countermelody over the orchestra. Sometimes Streisand cannot help herself. Then again, perhaps I’d be disappointed if she showed restraint. God love her.

Liam Hoare is a freelance writer based in the UK.

I do agree on many points that Mr.Hoare has written.

Maybe because I tend to look at this album from my appreciation of musical theatre, that I am not able to rate the album Excellent. True, the concept is excellent...but fails somewhat in the execution.

Actually this is the hurried review ( which means it was based on first impressions and written off the cuff) that I posted on Amazon earlier in the day -

4 of 5 stars
The concept is excellent.. By Reader on August 26, 2016

The concept is excellent...but the execution could have been more appealing. If you enjoy musical theatre, some interpretations are somewhat far off and takes one away from the intent of the song. Also, using a musical style that sounds more like pop or easy listening or with her unique way with notes is distracting. There are some excellent interpretations such as ANY MOMENT NOW with Hugh Jackman which seems true to the intent of the album -- which is exploring music originally intended for the stage with a likely different interpretation, but not to detract too much away from the story within a song. Some songs like LOVING YOU does not seem to work well for duets as the song departs from the plaintive and poignant song of a scorned woman. But the album is a good one to reminisce moments enjoyed from the stage, even if many of the artists ( save for some) belong to other musical worlds.

I could have written it more elegantly, but I just wanted to write one to support the album release, thus the off-the-cuff review. But it seems we do share many similar views.

[jo]

Hugh will be thrilled to hear what Barbra has to say


twitter.com/60Mins/media

There are two clips -- please scroll down to find both.



Here are other parts of the interview ( probably not the entire interview because there is no discussion of ANY MOMENT NOW) --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoYglOPPSNQ

[jo]

www.facebook.com/barbrastreisand/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

[jo]

Interesting that we thought she only emailed him to request him to sing with her ( based on that promo video of Hugh reacting to the email)

But it seems there is an entirely another story behind it -- did Barbra fly to NYC just to persuade Hugh to sing with her

That must have been such a pleasure for Hugh! And we thought that sometimes he could not help himself and occasionally talks " too much"


Jo

[jo]

Earlier, Barbra posted this tweet --

Barbra Streisand ‏@barbrastreisand · 10h10 hours ago

Thanks @realhughjackman for being the first partner on my new album to say “yes" - your talent really touched me.

The fan replies

Hugh Jackman ‏@realhughjackman · 11m11 minutes ago

Much love to the extraordinary @barbrastreisand on the release of ENCORE!

I wonder is Hugh has also seen the note ( in pink) that Barbra posted about how she came to see him in NYC at the time of THE RIVER ?


Jo

[jo]

Encore has entered the USA, UK, and Australia charts at # 1 !!


Our Hugh must be grinning broadly at this pop chart success. He did help put to reality the concept of musical theatre songs being performed by film actors, from the seed of an idea that came to Barbra with Any Moment Now!

Sorry , I can't post any links now but check out the BWW report.

Jo

[jo]

A fairly astute review of the album --

www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/music/14739326.CD_review__Barbra_Streisand__Encore_____Movie_Partners_Sing_Broadway__Columbia_______/

SIX decades down the line, Barbra Streisand has delivered perhaps the most inventive album in her career by redefining the entire concept of the celebrity duet album.

No stranger herself to collaborating on sets with the crème de la crème of the music world, Encore ventures into rarely chartered waters by incorporating spoken word into much of the album.

Although obviously scripted, the dialogue punctuating much of the record has a natural feel and rhythm, unlike say the spoken part on Diana Ross’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough or ABC’s Poison Arrow. It certainly helps that Streisand and her partners on this work are established and credible actors, as well as decent singers.





In particular, the combination of Streisand with Hugh Jackman on Any Moment Now (Smile) and Alec Baldwin on The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened (Road Show) convey adults in very real situations.

Of course, dialogue over songs is common place in musical theatre but on record the spoken part is usually erased, especially on a big-budget celebrity showcase, thus sanitising the core work. But here, and in all its glory, dialogue is added to enhance the experience, often telling a completely new story.

For example, the tried and tested Anything You Can Do (Annie Get Your Gun) is given new life as two actresses, Barbra and Melissa McCarthy, are embroiled in a bitter competition for the same role.

Other guests include Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Seth McFarlane, Antonio Banderas and (as if by magic) Anthony Newley and Jamie Foxx adding a gospel influence to Climb Ev’ry Mountain (The Sound Of Music). This is a truly spectacular album, and is a pretty sure fire bet to become a Grammy winner at the end of term.