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Review of Evergreen: Music from the Films of Barbra Streisand (Compilation)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you seek the cheery, romantic atmosphere inherent in the orchestral variations on the themes from Barbra Streisand's films.

Avoid it... if nothing less than hearing Streisand's voice on her own material will do.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Evergreen: Music from the Films of Barbra Streisand: (Compilation) The existence of this album in the Sonic Images archives can't help but remind you of moderate Republican presidential candidates making speeches to Evangelical conventions. It would perhaps be easier for the moderate Republican to sell his mainstream platform to the religious right than it would be for record producer Ford A. Thaxton to market this Barbra Streisand compilation to film score collectors. But those collectors obviously weren't the intended audience for this product; it was an attempt by Sonic Images to use a marketable name to make a quick buck, and you can't blame them for trying. That doesn't mean that "Evergreen: Music from the Films of Barbra Streisand" will appeal to anyone who reads any of the other reviews at Filmtracks, though. Like previous compilations by the Sonic Images label, this album features re-recordings that celebrate the career of a popular mainstream artist, and this time, the tribute goes to the highly polarizing Streisand. With representations of songs and themes from films she directed, produced, starred in, and performed for, the compilation doesn't provide what it needed to into order to truly make the big money: Streisand's voice. Not meant to compete with her countless dozens of albums through the years, though, this compilation album, with a few notable exceptions, contains all the most famous of these works. Offered are non-vocal, instrumental performances by veteran musicians from the City of Prague Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Americas, John Beal and the Symphonic Assembly, and le Grand Orchestre Symphonique. On the whole, the performances range from those that are "true to the original" to those that have a bit of artistic liberty applied to them, and your enjoyment of each of the nine selections will likely hinge on your appreciation of the individual original scores.

Starting the album, the Funny Girl suite has the feel of a concert band performance. Although performed correctly by note, the medley takes on the characteristics of a carnival ride; this is possibly the result of the lack of vocals during the snazzy rendition of the themes. The Way We Were is perhaps the most recognizable theme on the album, and is adequately presented with a new arrangement. As one of the weaker tracks on the album, The Mirror Has Two Faces suffers from a few awkward performance flubs during its second half. The performances of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever and "Evergreen" from A Star is Born are very good, with freshly minted interpretations of the themes. The selection from The Eyes of Laura Mars has maybe the most remote relationship to Streisand, and without her performance, there isn't much to tie it in with the rest of the album (though the sax is a decent replacement). James Newton Howard's theme from Prince of Tides is the most attractive track for score fans, with much of the emotion from the original. Nuts excels with John Beal's flawless piano performance. Finishing the album, the lengthy suite from Yentl has a generous amount of interpretations for the harp, an interesting take on the well known music for the film. Overall, this album comes down to the simple question of whether or not you enjoy the positive spirit often behind Streisand's work, and whether you're nostalgic for a musical tour of her cinematic career. By the end of this compilation, you should be very well aware of the optimistic and fluffy atmosphere that accompanies her works, and that overly upbeat romanticism could wear on some listeners. It can be argued that many of the themes suffer without Streisand's own performances and some listeners won't be interested in the absence of her vocal talents. The performances vary in quality from track to track, with the majority of them enjoyable enough to sustain the album. The sound quality is adequate, though better mixing has been done for the City of Prague Philharmonic on the Silva Screen label. Streisand fans should certainly delight in an elegant and relaxing mix of her career.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 48:01

• 1. Funny Girl - Medley (6:15) • 2. The Way We Were (3:14) • 3. The Mirror Has Two Faces - Main Title (3:38) • 4. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (3:56) • 5. The Eyes of Laura Mars - Prisoner (4:49) • 6. A Star is Born - Evergreen (4:18) • 7. The Prince of Tides - Main Title (3:50) • 8. Nuts - End Credits (3:43) • 9. Yentl - Suite For Harp and Orchestra (14:05)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert contains notes about Streisand's career, including the following excerpt:

"She is one of the top performers of the second half of this century; one of the most recognizable figures in the entertainment community who has succeeded in riding the crest of success despite changing public taste; a woman whose talent extends beyond the field in which she originally trained, singing, to other areas, such as screenwriting, directing, composing and acting. Barbra Streisand achieved worldwide renown as a singer by bucking a trend at a time when pop music was fast being displaced by rock and roll; a genre she sometimes acknowledged but never adopted. In the same way that there only was one Mae West or one Judy Garland, in the pantheon of great entertainers there is only one Barbra."

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