Broadway diva lives up to her billing

When was it first that the term diva was translated from the world of opera to that of showbiz? I wouldn't mind betting that it may have had something to do with the arrival on Broadway of young singer called Barbra Streisand. Today, 47 years later, there is no one in the world of showbiz for whom the term diva seems more apt.

Make no mistake, Barbra Streisand, even now at the age of 65, is a star of the first firmament. The record books speak of that. Streisand is the bestselling female artist of all-time. With 71 million records to her credit she outsells The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and is exceeded only by Elvis. She is one of the few performers to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, A Tony and a Grammy.

But it is only in live performance, in her first UK appearance in the first tour she has ever done in Europe, that the power, range and unique tonal quality of her voice becomes fully apparent.

Stardom is a two-way process. I have never seen an audience so excited as the one that entered the MEN Arena last night. It was like being among a classroom of hyperactive children or amid a troop of horses with the wind in their nostrils.

Something far more intense than mere anticipation shivered through the crowd, a fact that was not merely to be explained by the fact that they had paid (pound)550 a ticket in the best seats - making Streisand the highest-paid concert performer in history. As she walked on to the stage she was met not just with a standing ovation but with a round of ululation not normally thought of as native to Manchester.

From the first song, the big ballad "Starting Here, Starting Now", the audience's faith was justified. It was a voice of enormous power but superb control. Perhaps, at 65, it has lost a little definition - though she may just have had a slight cold, for she sounded hoarse once or twice when she talked. But she demonstrated an extraordinary range and command of styles, moving straight into "Down With Love", a jazzy little number with a walking bass.

But what is stunning is the sheer artistry of Streisand's interpretative range. She sings songs like she's telling a story, unfolding "Papa, Can You Hear Me", from Yentl, as if it had the epic narrative of a grand opera. Some were simple, others were ferociously tricky, and yet they were each delivered with a deceptive ease. She made the lyrics of "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" sound as though they were words she was spontaneously inventing and speaking to a single person in a private place.

The someone she was talking to was an arena full of fans who sent up cards bearing messages such as: "I have been waiting to see you the whole of my life." She progressed from one song to the next in a way which was not autobiographical so much as the story of the lives of those who listened. She was singing the soundtrack to their joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures.

There were some heavy swaths of sentimentality involved, but Streisand conveyed it with a freshness which was utterly uncloying. She sang "A Cockeyed Optimist" as if it had been written by Kurt Weil. Her encore, "Smile, though your heart is breaking" was dedicated to the drummer of her magnificent 60-strong orchestra. His sister, she hinted, had just undergone some terrible tragedy. She sang it slow, tinged with profound melancholy and enormous emotional power. A diva if ever there was one.(source)