Streisand in Public Concert For First Time in 27 Years

AFTER 27 years of refraining from public concert appearances, Barbra Streisand performs tonight and New Year's night in the 15,000-seat Grand Garden Theater of the new MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. The concerts sold out immediately, despite prices ranging from $50 to $1,000. Ms. Streisand's payment has been estimated at as much as $10 million per night.

This year Streisand shed her reclusive habits, making appearances for women Senate candidates from California, at President Clinton's inauguration, for AIDS projects in Los Angeles, and for David Dinkins's unsuccessful campaign for reelection as New York City mayor. Her agreement to sing in Las Vegas amazed many longtime Streisand watchers, who believed she would never again face a public audience.

This month she donated her 15-acre Malibu, Calif. showplace, valued at $15 million, to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The conservation group plans to use the property and its five houses as an environmental research complex. Her collection of Art Deco objects, valued at $4 million, will be auctioned at Christie's in New York in March.