Live at Carnegie Hall (Liza Minnelli album)

Live at Carnegie Hall (reissued in 2022 as Live in New York 1979) is the fourth live album by American singer Liza Minnelli. Released by the Altel Sound Systems record company in 1981, it was her first and only release under that label.

Carnegie Hall held great significance in Minnelli's family, as her mother, also a singer and an actress Judy Garland, made her triumphant return there 18 years earlier in an event that some call "the greatest night in showbiz history". In this context, Minnelli had a desire to return with a new season of shows after her successful performances in the musical The Act. However, she didn't want to return with the same nightclub act she had been doing for years; she wanted innovations.

With the help of her dedicated team, including Fred Ebb (the writer, producer, and director of the show), Wayne Cilento and Ron Lewis (choreographer), Lawrence Miller (set designer), and Mark Gero as her production manager, Minnelli set out to surprise with her new tour. In an interview, she stated, "I wanted to turn my shows at Carnegie Hall into a presentation theater," adding, "I wanted each song to be a complete acting piece; a complete character. I wanted Carnegie Hall to be my baby".

The album was produced by Hank Cattaneo and Bill LaVorgna, with recordings taking place in the Carnegie Hall concert hall, located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in September 1979. The show in question was one of the eleven sold-out performances in Minnelli's series at the venue.

The cover was created from one of the images from Minnelli's collection, taken by the American pop art painter and filmmaker Andy Warhol

At the time of the release, Minnelli was not affiliated with a major record label and had the vision to record these concerts and release them independently. Two years later, in 1981, she began selling the limited edition of the double album at her live performances.

In 2021, the Real Gone Music record label renamed the album as "Live In New York 1979" and re-released it on limited pink vinyl and also limited red vinyl, with 1,400 copies each. In 2022, the album was finally released in a 3-CD edition that includes the complete show for the first time and the abbreviated version previously released on vinyl.

Critical reception
The album received favorable reviews from music critics.

Will Friedwald of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the show "was not Mrs. Minnelli's final act - or even the halfway point - but it was the climax of a moment in cultural history. The AIDS epidemic would soon end the festivities, but, as captured by Liza Minnelli at Carnegie in 1979, it was the greatest party in history." Regarding Minnelli's performance, he stated: "Mrs. Minnelli's supreme power may well be her extreme sensuality - she's openly sexy in a way that almost no theatrical diva ever is" closer to Peggy Lee or Julie London. You can't help but notice this in two songs written by Ebb and John Kander for her starring role in "The Act": In "City Lights" - an even better vehicle for her than the more famous "Theme from 'New York, New York'" - she sings not only of her love for her adopted city, but a kind of lust for it."

Stephen Mosher of BroadwayWorld gave a favorable review in which he considered Minnelli's performances of "Cabaret," "New York, New York," "City Lights," and "But The World Goes Round" electrifying. He stated that the singer is in great vocal shape throughout the entire concert, and "as, song by song, monologue by monologue, Liza Minnelli takes the listener on a series of intriguing paths, her ability to tell the stories she brought to the stage shines brightly, resonating with individuality and originality." He concluded by saying that "from start to finish, [the album] is not only one of the best albums by Liza Minnelli to be released on CD, not only one of the best concert albums to be recorded, produced, remastered, and re-released after an uncomfortable four-decade wait, it's simply one of the best albums, period."

Personnel

 * Arranged by Bill Byers, Michael Abene, Ralph Burns
 * Conducted by Bill Lavorgna
 * Recorded by David Hewitt on the Record Plant NY Black Truck
 * Produced by Hank Cattaneo & Bill Lavorgna
 * Musicians
 * Victor Paz - trumpet
 * Ross Konikoff - trumpet
 * Harry DeVito - trombone
 * Arnie Lawrence - alto saxophone
 * Lawrence Feldman - tenor saxophone
 * Kenny Berger - baritone saxophone
 * Bill LaVorgna - drummer, conductor
 * Jay Leonhart - bass
 * Rick Leowes - guitar
 * Dave Cox - percussion
 * Steve Tubin - keyboards
 * Pat Rebillot - piano