Barbra Streisand Ushers in Millennium with Yamaha

t was the toughest ticket of the biggest New Year's Eve ever — a sellout in only five hours, more than seven months before the curtain rose. "Timeless: The Millennium Concert," Barbra Streisand's heralded appearance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for more than 13,000 lucky fans, and it was only fitting that a Yamaha piano was center stage.

With Marvin Hamlisch conducting the orchestra and accompanist Randy Waldman playing the Yamaha C7 conservatory grand piano, Streisand took the audience on a tour through more than 30 of her best-loved hits, along with medleys, spoken reminiscences and video segments. Tap dancer Savion Glover joined her on stage as Father Time, and the show opened with teenager Lauren Frost portraying the 13-year-old Streisand who sang "You'll Never Know" in 1955.

In addition to the C7 on stage, Streisand had a Yamaha C3 conservatory grand piano in her dressing room, and used a Yamaha S4 grand piano during mid-December rehearsals at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, CA. All of the Yamaha pianos Streisand used in connection with the concert were provided by Yamaha Artist Services.

Tickets for "Timeless" were in such sharp demand that a second, January 1 show was added to the bill in late November. Those lucky enough to get seats to either show paid between $500 and $2,500 for the lavish, four-and-a-half-hour spectacle, which was filmed for a possible upcoming television special. However on September 19, the whole world got a chance to hear the entire concert when Sony Records released the double album, Streisand Timeless, the thrilling recording of the celebrated and rave-reviewed concert.

Streisand opened the New Year's Eve show with "Something's Coming" from West Side Story. The first of several standing ovations greeted the opening notes of "Don't Rain on My Parade," and she led up to the stroke of midnight with "People" followed by "Auld Lang Syne." Her first song of the new year was "Friends," a new number she co-wrote with Hamlisch.

She also offered up favorites like "The Way We Were," "Cry Me a River," "Evergreen," "Send in the Clowns," "Putting it Together," "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" and "Alfie." During several songs, Streisand was joined by a 60-member choir made up of students and church singers from the Las Vegas area.