Christmas Memories

Barbra Streisand | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 30, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005QCNC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (166 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,245 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #27 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Pop Vocal
  • #57 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Classic Vocalists
  • #93 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Opera & Vocal

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What's a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn cum internationally renowned pop diva doing releasing a(nother) Christmas album? Well, maintaining a long-lived American tradition, for one thing. But then, this companion piece to Barbra Streisand's 1967 A Christmas Album has a mature, jazzy charm and sometimes smoky atmosphere that don't exactly conjure chestnuts roasting by an open fire. Just as Streisand has always used music as a stepping stone to something more ambitiously dramatic, she's used the holiday season here as an excuse to explore rich emotional sentiments, if not necessarily sentimentalism itself. As on its 1960s forebear, her choice of material here is mostly as fresh as it is surprising. Among the contemporary More Usual Suspects (David Foster's "Grown-up Christmas List," "A Christmas Love Song," and "Christmas Mem'ries" by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) are gems familiar ("I'll Be Home For Christmas," "What Are You Doing Christmas Eve?") and rare (Sondheim's updated "I Remember," "It Must Have Been the Mistletoe"). While not bathos-exempt (see "Closer"), Streisand's rich, ever-expressive voice masterfully drives a collection that stretches from "Ave Maria" (Schubert's, this time) to the ecumenical timeliness of "One God." --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Barbra...Fans Will Love This One, December 5, 2003

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Christmas Memories (Audio CD)

This review refers to the Barbra Streisand "Christmas Memories" CD.....

There is no doubt that this is one beautiful album. The music, the words, and Barbra's wonderful tones combine for a CD that will have anyone mesmerized, and leave fans delighted.Barbra seems to put her heart and soul into such classics as "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" and her rendition of "Ave Maria" is very moving and almost too beautiful for words.

There are twelve tracks including "A Christmas Love Song" a wonderful melody composed by Johnny Mandel and "I Remember" by Stephen Sondheim(see buying info for complete list).Most of the songs are dreamy, romantic and sentimental.As far as Streisand albums go, it's fabulous.

If you are looking for something really 'Christmassy' though, you won't find that here. As I said the music is beautiful, but it just doesn't say Christmas to me. This would be nice for a romantic dinner for two or just quiet listening for fans. There are no upbeat holdiay tunes included in the mix to bring good cheer.

The CD quality is excellent.Barbra's voice and the music fill the room wonderfully.

I would recommned this to fans who just can't get enough of Barbra, but not for a holiday party.

Happy Holidays...Laurie
also recommended:
Toys For Tots 30 All-Time Christmas Favorites

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what else do you need?, November 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Christmas Memories (Audio CD)

The greatest living pop singer of our time, lush orchestrations, emotional depth, surprising material -- it all adds up to one of her best albums. I'm rather amazed at some of the criticism levelled at this record for being too slow and too "down". Is this because it doesn't feature the same songs included on countless other Christmas albums? Or because the songs aren't instantly recognizable sing-alongs? As for the tone of the record, other than the masterful melancholy of "I Remember," and plea of "Grown-up Christmas List", the ten other tracks are either romantic and hopeful, and in every case, incredibly evocative of the holiday season. Not since "The Broadway Album" and "Yentl" has she sung with more passion and subtlety. She is the best ballad singer there is, and I don't mean the contrived power-pop ballad, but something far more adult and sophisticated. And has anyone listened to Streisand's first Christmas album recently? Besides the frenetic opener, "Jingle Bells", it's one slow ballad after another, and in this opinion, a less cohesive sound than this current Christmas album. This new work is a holiday album about spirit and emotion, and reminds us of what it is to be human and feel something. Stop and listen. This is music for our time, and the season.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOSEBUMPS!, November 19, 2001

By 

Bruce Brown (NYC, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christmas Memories (Audio CD)

This album is classic Barbra: powerful but vulnerable, articulate yet emotional , truly passionate and musically inspired. On even the first listening I was moved to utter chills by "Grown-up Christmas List". I immediately responded to its lyrics in the context of our new, post September 11, world. "I Remember" is a somber choice for a Christmas album, but don't we all have some bitter holiday memories that never fade? "One God" is a joyously affirmative album finale that celebrates the triumph of Love over hatred and division. And, to me, that's the real Spirit of Christmas.

Much of the album is romantic and wistful, and I certainly enjoy that too. But these three songs are deeply compelling.

Bravo Barbra!