kon_mc Review of Timeless: Live in Concert

Timeless: Live in Concert (2001 TV Special)

The perfect career time line of the greatest voice of all time!!!

[10/10 · 10 July 2006]

Barbra's 1999/2000 concert is by far the best concert ever performed. At her 57, Barbra is still singing very good. 'Timeless' is a retrospective of her 38-year-old career. It begins with her first recording in 1955 (You'll Never Know) by Mini-Her (Lauren Frost: a young girl with a great, huge-ranged voice who also looks like Barbra!) and when the millennium is about to change, she sings her latest songs (At The Same Time - 1997, I've Dreamed Of You - 1999). The first song that Barbra herself sings is ''Something's Coming'' and the last one is ''Somewhere'', both from Stephen Sondheim's ''West Side Story''. I guess Barbra adores that play!... Anyway, listening to this concert, from Barbra's early years performing at night clubs the songs that would then become her first albums' hits, someone can appreciate and develop the right opinion for the most successful female artist of all time. It's very important that there has been an excellent choice of songs and also, Barbra has written her speeches which were, as you will find out, necessary to make this concert worth that much. She's true and honest with every theme and subject: about her forgotten recording (Alfie), about her feelings for her lost father with a two-songs dedication (Papa, Can You Hear Me? and A Piece Of Sky, both from Yentl), about how fragile the world is (At The Same Time), about how the world can become a better place (I Believe), about her co-operation with Stephen Sondheim (Send In The Clowns) and so much more. Really enjoyable moments are: Singing ''The Main Event'' ('the 70's -my God!- disco!', as she recalls), her ''Everytime You Hear Auld Lang Syne'' duet with the audience, the duets video montage with Judy Garland, Barry Gibb, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion and Neil Diamond and a medley that the audience went crazy for (I'm The Greatest Star/Second Hand Rose/Don't Rain On My Parade). One of the greatest moments is the last seconds: in fact, the last note she sings which is ''wheeeeere'' from Bernstein/Sondheim's ''Somewhere''. In this concert, Barbra sings songs that haven't been performed for a Long time, like ''Lover, Come Back To Me'' and ''Miss Marmelstein''. The great cast (Randee Heller & Alec Ledd), the brilliant time-keeper, Time (played by Savion Glover), Lauren Frost, Marvin Hamlisch and the background singers are people you have got to shout out for, too. Above all, it's a high-level concert with good audio and video material, great humor and hard work. A must have DVD (and CD) for every miscellaneous fan and not only.