Barbra Streisand plays first concert in Germany 02/07/2007 00:00

2 July 2007

BERLIN (AP) _ Barbra Streisand has played her first concert in Germany, winning an enthusiastic welcome from some 18,000 fans in Berlin and praising the capital's ''beauty _ and desserts.''

Saturday night's appearance at Berlin's open-air Waldbuehne was part of a European tour that also has taken her to Zurich, Switzerland, and to France for the first time.

''I can't believe it took me so long to come here,'' she told the audience.

''I definitely got a taste of Berlin,'' she said. ''This city is filled with culture, beauty _ and desserts.''

Streisand's German concert attracted local luminaries including Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and Guido Westerwelle, the leader of Germany's biggest opposition party, who said the singer's presence was a ''giant compliment for Berlin.''

Meanwhile, US singer Barbra Streisand has cancelled her planned concert in Stockholm this week on medical advice, organizer's said Monday.

Tour organizer, Concert Productions International, issued a statement saying doctors had advised Streisand, 65, to rest her voice.

In a statement published in Swedish, Streisand said she was "disappointed" over the development and "sad to let her fans down."

Sold tickets for the Wednesday concert that was to be staged in Stockholm's landmark Globe Arena would be refunded.

AP, DPA

Subject German news