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| Barbra Streisand...and Other Musical Instruments | 
 enlarge | Artist: Barbra Streisand
Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
Category: Music
List Price: $7.98
Buy New: $4.79
You Save: $3.19 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $4.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  (27 reviews)
Sales Rank: 165522
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 886972482729
EAN: 0886972482729
ASIN: B0012GN2FQ
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Piano Practicing | | • | I Got Rhythm | | • | Johnny One Note/One Note Samba | | • | Glad to Be Unhappy | | • | People | | • | Second Hand Rose | | • | Don't Rain on My Parade | | • | Don't Ever Leave Me | | • | Monologue (Dialogue) | | • | By Myself | | • | Come Back to Me | | • | I Never Has Seen Snow | | • | Lied: Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen | | • | World Is a Concerto/Make Your Own Kind of Music | | • | Sweetest Sounds |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Her Best TV Special September 3, 2008
This is a very good special and I suspect that some reviewers here are rating the CD and have never seen the show. Barbra is being experimental with music from different countries, time periods and varieties of American music. It is quite an enjoyable show to watch but I bet it would be very confusing to listen to on CD without ever watching the show or knowing its concepts. Barbra was at the height of her beauty and was very good at doing these specials. From the first one she did in 1965 on, she always experimented and did new things. The Bomb - The Belle of 14th Street didn't even stop her. (Actually, I liked that one too.) A very nice evening watching these shows. Highly recommended.
 well, it's interesting.... December 1, 2007
Admittedly, as I write this review, I'm not sure what to say about it. It's a brave experiment on Barbra Streisand's part, especially since very few people would try to make music out of the sucking noise of a vacuum cleaner. But I also have to say that alot of those brave moments, such as the one I just mentioned, falls flat.
Despite the creative approach to this, I have to say that this album fails more than it succeeds. Yes, the versions of "People," "Second Hand Rose" and "Don't Rain on my Parade" are inventive takes on the songs, and others, such as "I Got Rhythm" are just heavenly, but this is just too weird to work as an album on its own.
The t.v. special, which I saw for the first time only recently, is fantastic, and something all fans will love. This, however, is for the completest only, and even then will not get much joy out of listening to this.
Wonderful trip down Memory Lane October 19, 2007
Although I'm not consistent about checking all the wonderful things on Amazon, I was so happy to see this fantastic DVD offered. I was in 6th grade back when this first aired in 1973 and I remember watching it with my mother. We both loved Barbra Streisand very much and still do. I'm not as big a fan as I used to be because I can't afford her concert tickets, however, listening to her older works is a very special treat to me.
Barbra's voice is in TOP form throughout this special and this is one of her finest works. It was fun to see how dated it was but she looks and sounds fantastic throughout. It's always amazed me that she's sometimes considers herself unnattractive, especially in the early years but she is quite the looker in my opinion...especially around this era.
She takes you through so many wonderful sights and sounds in this television special that I had forgotten several things but since I know the soundtrack so well, it came back like lightening. There is no lip-synching as far as I can tell because the singing in this DVD is slightly different from the soundtrack but equally superb. It's one of my most favorite of all her CDs.
Take a trip back to yesteryear and enjoy this really outstanding TV special and treat yourself to the CD soundtrack too.
Streisand in Transition on an Elaborate, Sometimes Overly Ambitious 1973 Special August 1, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
As the last of the CBS-TV specials showcased in the five-disc set, "Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials", the extravagant "Barbra Streisand...and Other Musical Instruments" came a full five years after her last special. It's important to note that she was no longer just a chanteuse at this point and had in the interim, catapulted herself into a movie career. Her music also changed as it evolved into a broader terrain of pop beyond her standard repertoire of torch songs and show tunes. For what would be her last special made strictly for the television medium (her subsequent specials have been videotaped concerts), Streisand goes back to the three-act concept structure that worked well for her in her first two specials, 1965's "My Name Is Barbra" and 1966's "Color Me Barbra". However, never one to repeat herself, the performer turned the concepts inside out by loosely revolving the program around the basic idea that music is a universal language.
In Act I, she starts things light with a medley of "Sing" from "Sesame Street" and Mac Davis' "Make Your Own Kind of Music". With a succession of exotic instruments, she then segues into an elaborate world-music medley of "I Got Rhythm" blended with her regular repertoire and highlighted in a whirl of color and costumes. Act II sees her swimming in a hippie-style caftan in a state of confusion over then-current data computers while singing pre-electronica versions of "By Myself" and "Come Back to Me". This leads to a rather incongruous segment with Ray Charles, where he effortlessly sings "Look What They Done to My Song, Ma", duets mighty prettily with Streisand on Buck Owens's "Cryin' Time Again" and then accompanies her and his Raelettes on a churning medley of "Sweet Inspiration" and "Where You Lead". Granted Streisand's choreography is a bit awkward and her bell-bottoms somewhat distracting, but the number works even if it does pale mightily next to the live version she performed at the LA Forum.
The third segment has Streisand in a fussy lace gown doing a comic version of a famous Schubert lied, a poignant performance of Harold Arlen and Truman Capote's "I Never Has Seen Snow" (the best moment of the special), and her signature "On a Clear Day". The climax comes with a weak medley of "The World Is a Concerto" and again "Make Your Own Kind of Music" accompanied by tuxedoed men operating electric household appliances and surrounded by a 100-piece orchestra including a musical saw. The end credits surround an aura-affixed Streisand singing "The Sweetest Sounds". Aired in November 1973, the special represents Streisand at her most youthfully glamorous and teasingly audacious. With very clear visuals and audio, this DVD does not contain her best TV work, but it holds up well over the past 33 years.
Ahead of it's time December 2, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The soundtrack to the poorly-received television special of the same name, AND OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS is the case of a program that was significantly ahead of it's time. The idea of performing songs (both old and new) with arrangements that incorporate instruments from around the world is a terrific idea, and the whole concept is (for the most part) entertaining and cleverly executed. Although this soundtrack version loses a point for omitting some great songs and leaving behind the impressive visual accompaniment, the sheer excitement and virtuosity of the inventive show still comes through in abundance. Tying it all together is the most amazing instrument of them all - Barbra's indescribably beautiful voice, which soars above even the most towering and complex arrangements, while always finding the emotional core to each song.
The first Act of the special is represented almost in complete entirety, as Streisand uses the Gershwins' immortal "I Got Rhythm" as the framework of a 14-minute medley that takes listeners on a musical tour of the world. Backed by an array of East Indian instruments, Barbra delivers marvelously sensual performances of "Johnny One Note" and "One Note Samba," capping things off with just the right amount of humor. She then performs an achingly beautiful rendition of Rogers and Hart's "Glad To Be Unhappy," which is given a gorgeous Japanese arrangement. Streisand's signature numbers like "People," "Second Hand Rose," and "Don't Rain On My Parade" are performed to the accompaniment of Turkish-Armenian, Spanish, Native American, African, and Irish instruments, which brings fresh interpretations to such well-loved songs. To top it off, Streisand ends the medley with a phenomena 23-second note that broke the previous record for the longest sustained note set by Ima Sumac.
Some classical music enthusiasts were outraged when Streisand performed Schubert's masterpiece "Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen" in a highly campy manner, however, Streisand's tongue-in-cheek take on the classic piece is all in good fun. The closing, choral rendition of Richard Rodgers' "The Sweetest Sounds" is absolutely heavenly, and Barbra's restrained performance of this standard is overflowing with the hushed intensity that has always been one of the most beautiful aspects of her incomparable singing voice. Best of all, however, is the absolutely gorgeous version of "I Never Has Seen Snow," one of Harold Arlen's most underrated compositions. Streisand is arguably the best interpreter of Arlen's work, and her performance here is absolutely spin-tingling. In fact, the whole album is worth buying for "I Never Has Seen Snow" alone.
On a lessor note, the sound effect-laden performances of "By Myself" and "Come Back To Me" don't pack the same punch when taken out the context of the special, and the "household appliance" number, "The World is a Concerto" (which probably sounded hilarious on paper), is too gimmicky to succeed as intended. Even more unfortunate is the fact that some really fantastic numbers that were performed on the special did not make the final cut for the soundtrack. The entire segment with guest star Ray Charles is missing (although the stirring duet "Cryin' Time" was finally issued on the 1991 box set JUST FOR THE RECORD and the 2002 compilation DUETS), which many critics felt was the show's true moment of greatness. Barbra also delivered dynamic renditions of "Sing/Make You Own Kind of Music," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," and "Sweet Inspiration" (featuring memorable harmony vocals from Ray Charles' backup singers, the Raylettes), sadly none of which are preserved here on disc.
Even with the missing numbers and the loss of the sumptuous visuals that were contained in the special, AND OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS remains a terrific and adventurous album that is an easy recommendation to all fans of the ultimate diva. The project overall did not fare particularly well with the public, however, with the special only pulling in modest ratings and this accompanying soundtrack stalling at a disappointing #64 on the Hot 200. It's a shame that this inventive, entertaining, and fun television special has yet to be embraced by the entertainment community, yet, like any project ahead of it's time, perhaps it will one day find a greater audience.
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