PERFORMER: BARBRA STREISAND
ALBUM: BACK TO BROADWAY
LABEL: COLUMBIA
THE BOTTOM LINE: The singer follows up her smash 1985 album of show tunes with / an even smarter, sharper collection.
Barbra Streisand doesn't sing, she emotes. She ascends octaves with the zeal of a new initiate in a 12-step program. She deconstructs melodies and remakes them in her own image (she once asked Stephen Sondheim to rewrite Send in the Clowns). She tends to avoid singing one note when three or eight will do. All her emotions are bigger than life -- bigger than the afterlife if you include On a...