Streisand to perform first concert in Ireland this summer

American singer Barbra Streisand is to perform her first concert in Ireland this summer, but fans will have to fork out up to €550 to see her.

The multiple Oscar and Emmy-winning performer is to sing in the grounds of Castletown House in Celbridge this July, the first time the State's largest Palladian mansion has hosted a large concert.

Some 12,000 tickets are being sold for the event, billed by promoters MCD as an "intimate, once-in-a-lifetime performance". The tickets go on sale at 9 am on May 11th.

A spokesman defended the price of the tickets, which range from €118.50 to €551.75, by pointing out that when Frank Sinatra played in Dublin in 1989, tickets cost up to €400. Ms Streisand's residency in Las Vegas has a two-year waiting list for tickets, he said.

The 65-year-old singer, who has twice come back from retirement, will be accompanied on her European tour by a 58-piece orchestra. Promoters say "designated proceeds" from the tour will support her philanthropic initiatives and will be distributed through the Streisand Foundation.

In her first performances in Europe outside the UK, she will perform in Vienna, Paris, Nice and London as well as Co Kildare. "What a joy it will be to perform in so many wonderful countries for the first time," the singer is quoted in a press release as saying. "I can't wait to experience these different audiences and different cultures."

Ms Streisand is one of the most successful female artists in US popular music over four decades, with a record 71 million albums sold. She has recorded over 60 albums, with her best-known songs including The Way We Were, Evergreen and Woman in Love. She has also won an Oscar for Best Actress and has directed a number of films.The concert is subject to a licence being obtained by the OPW, which has run Castletown House on behalf of the State since 1994.