Barbra Streisand shed her decades-long aversion to performing in Germany with a riveting concert in Berlin at the weekend. The concert drew repeated standing ovations from the sell-out crowd.
German newspapers cheered the Jewish-American entertainer's first ever concert in the country and Streisand fans said they were pleased she had overcome any lingering resentment over the Holocaust to perform in Germany.
"I still can't believe it took me so long to come here," an elated Streisand told the crowd after her two-and-a-half hour concert.
"Thank you for coming. Thank you for waiting. Thank you for being amazing. You've been a fantastic. I'll never forget you."
The 65-year-old entertainer has in the past turned down several invitations from Germany.
The leader of Germany's Jewish community, Paul Spiegel, lamented before he died last year that Streisand had refused to come because of the Holocaust.
"Barbra Streisand was the only one," said Spiegel when asked if artists had reservations about Germany, one of the world's most lucrative concert markets.
Spiegel said he understood her stance even though he disagreed.
Germany, where only a small fraction of the population was born before the Nazis took power in 1933, has spent decades trying to come to terms with the shame of its Nazi past.
'Fantastic', 'wonderful'
News that Streisand would appear made headlines.
"I think it's fantastic that she has changed her mind about Germany and overcome her anti-German resentment," says Annette Nellin, a 65-year-old pensioner and life-long fan who attended the concert in Berlin's Waldbuehne open air arena.
Rainer Torchalla, a mechanic, drove across Germany from the southern city of Regensburg to see the concert.
"It's wonderful she's here, that she's moving beyond the past and big enough to still keep an open mind even at age 65," says the 38-year-old.
Michaele Krueger, a 39-year-old long-time fan from Cologne, says it was sad that Streisand had stayed away in the past.
"It's great she overcame that," Kruege said.
"I hope she sees how beautiful Germany is and how different it is today."
'Concert of the year'
Local media reported that Streisand was so afraid to be in Germany that she booked suites in several hotels and employed a lookalike, but she quickly warmed to the 18,000 audience.
Streisand delighted them with flawless German and revealed a weakness for German desserts.
She also thanked Germans for being such avid buyers of her records through her career.
"You rarely see concerts start with such celebration and applause," wrote Der Tagesspiegel.
"She got standing ovations after almost every song."
Bild am Sonntag called it "the concert event of the year".
It added: "The great Barbra was really here and 18,000 people screamed for joy at her first-ever concert in Germany."
Streisand, one of the best-selling artists of all time, is on a six-week, eight-city tour through Europe. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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