Barbra Streisand - The
Movie Album (2003/Sony Super Audio
Compact Disc/5.1 SA-CD/SACD)
PCM CD Sound: B
DSD 2.0: B+ DSD Multi-channel:
A- Music: B+
Barbra Streisand remains one of the greatest vocalists of
all time, with a voice that just continues to become more and more incredible,
especially when it excels with material as picked by the legendary vocalist
herself on The Movie Album from
2003, now available as a multi-channel music Super Audio CD in the great format
that is fortunately still with us and slowly growing. Though many still celebrate The Broadway Album, this is a worthy
companion and is also now the best way to hear Streisand outside of her live
concert appearances.
This disc offers the following titles:
1)
Smile
2)
Moon River
3)
I’m In The Mood For Love
4)
Wild Is The Wind
5)
Emily
6)
More In Love With You
7)
How Do You Keep The Music Playing?
8)
But Beautiful
9)
Calling You
10) The Second Time Around
11) Goodbye For Now
12) You’re Gonna Hear From Me
At first, it seems like an odd choice of tracks ranging
from a classic song from the usually silent Charlie Chaplin’s rare sound outing
Modern Times to fine compositions
that either have been lost in time or do not get the respect they might
otherwise have. Moon River is so identified with Audrey Hepburn, Streisand picks a
new approach that works more effectively than expected, while the duet How
Do You Keep The Music Playing?
becomes alive with new nuance. As a
matter of fact, her vocal approach here is some of the most masterful of her
career in what turns out to be her 60th album release and most of
those albums are classics.
Though the PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo CD tracks are fine and areas
good as any of the many Streisand CDs out there (and better), the DSD Super
Audio CD tracks especially impressive with fidelity that is some of the best we
have heard in the format, though this is an often subtler recording. It is that quiet detail and musicality that
comes through in the DSD 2.0 Stereo and is just amazing in the DSD 5.1 mix. With Streisand sounding like she is in the
room, you just stop and listen to what remains one of the greatest voices of
all time. She co-produced this album
with Jay Landers and her knack of knowing what works for her pays off track
after track.
Purists (even those who own Playstation 3s) will like the
2.0 Stereo, but audiophiles who can play this back in 5.1 will find many
reference moments throughout. Despite
all the controversy and dumb attacks outside of the music world, Streisand is a
force of nature musically that cannot be stopped. Once she is in her element, there is no
stopping her. This would be an SA-CD I
would recommend to vinyl fans who are still skeptical of this format. Previously, my favorite digital Streisand
music release was the DualDisc version of Guilty
with its 2.0 Stereo PCM-rich DVD flip-side, but that is now out of print, the
live tracks of her duets with Barry Gibb sounded even a bit better and nothing
there can compete with the 5.1 mix here.
The Movie Album is her best
album in years and as an SA-CD, a must-own disc.
- Nicholas Sheffo
