Classical Barbra

Barbra Streisand: The Music, the Woman, The Myth author Shaun Considine claimed that it took six months of secret editing to cut the album together.[4]

Francesco Scavullo was paid $75,000 to take the photograph that adorns the cover of the Classical Barbra album.[5]

This album saw Streisand be awarded her 40th gold album.[6]

Upon its rerelease, Streisand said: "I have always had a special affection for Classical Barbra. I loved the process of developing and making the recording, and I was gratified by the success it had when it was originally released".[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Independent	[9]
Rolling Stone	Mixed[10]

The album received favorable reviews from music critics. The Washington Post explained that the album was "widely panned" upon its release, though notably it was defended by Glenn Gould.[11] AllMusic gave the album a retrospective rating of 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as one of Streisand's "more esoteric projects" and a surprise to her fans.[12] The Independent said that when the album was first released, it was a "rare and risky gambit".[13] The Second Disk explained that the singer's "clarion voice and dramatic interpretive skills" ensured the album's timelessness.[14] The New York Times said that the album was a "rare instance of [Streisand] being too deferential to the originals".[15] The Baltimore Sun deemed it her "most daring album".[16] The Tuscaloosa News compared Streisand's underwhelming performance of classical music to that of Florence Foster Jenkins.[17] The Daily Gazette described it as an "ill-fated...proto-crossover album".[18] Philippine Daily Inquirer said it was an "esoteric but laudable project",[19] and one of the moments Streisand challenged herself with musical risks in her youth.[20] The Village Voice compared its "hideous...camp" to that of Jane Olivor's performance of Donovan's Lalena.[21] Beaver County Times deemed it a "pleasant surprise".[22] Sarasota Herald Times said the album saw her "belting out arias".[23] A Singer's Notebook thought Streisand's vocals sounded "repressed".[24] Scotland on Sunday, in an article about the inappropriateness and limitations of many crossover albums, described Streisand's effort as a " decidedly dangerous liaison".[25]

Classical pianist Glenn Gould wrote: "For me, the Streisand voice is one of the natural wonders of the age, an instrument of infinite diversity and timbral resource...Nothing in this album is insensitive or unmusical".[26]

1. "Beau Soir" (Claude Debussy) – 2:42
2. "Brezairola - Berceuse" from 'Songs of the Auvergne' (Joseph Canteloube) – 3:47
3. "Verschwiegene Liebe" (Hugo Wolf) – 2:57
4. "Pavane (Vocalise)" (Gabriel Fauré) – 5:29
5. "Après un rêve" (Gabriel Fauré) – 3:24
6. "In trutina" from 'Carmina Burana' (Carl Orff) – 2:11
7. "Lascia ch'io pianga" from 'Rinaldo' (George Frideric Handel) – 3:37
8. "Mondnacht" (Robert Schumann) – 3:56
9. "Dank sei Dir, Herr" (Unconfirmed composer; Handel or Siegfried Ochs) – 3:42
10. "I Loved You" (Claus Ogerman) – 2:18

2013 Remaster Bonus Tracks

11. "An Sylvia, D.891" (Franz Schubert) – 2:50
12. "Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D.774" (Franz Schubert) – 3:14

• The Barbra Streisand Companion