Various Artists - Live at the Berlin Philharmoni (CD)

Details: Never before entirely released concert recorded on 9 November 1969 at the Berlin Philharmonie. These emotionally intense concerts are all the more remarkable because of the artist's high wire act, a balance constantly maintained throughout between her professional savoir faire (a vocal technique at the apex of her art and her interpretive skills) and her emotional abandonment to the moment as she gives her all. The entire performance, with Vaughan pouring out her heart, seems in hindsight at once perfectly timeless in terms of it's formal classicism yet thoroughly in the fleeting moment. At the end of the day, these recordings are invaluable. As Vaughan explores the most lyrical, emotional aspects of her art, she overwhelms her listeners as she bares her soul. Her virtuosity in using her imagination to deploy all her technical skills and the extraordinary range of her tessitura are restrained rather than ostentatious. She literally reaches the stars and gives us a unique lesson in music as a form of the art of living.