Labour of love barely begins to describe this particular Wainwright production and you immediately get a sense of the man's absolute devotion to the event when listening to this double album.

Garland's significance to gay people's history and culture is undeniable, her death was one factor that kicked off the Stonewall Riots, for example. Garland's Carnegie Hall concert, which took place on 23 April 1961, has been hailed as "the greatest night in show business history" and the recording of it has never been out of print.

The songs are beyond iconic, ‘That's Entertainment’ and ‘Over The Rainbow’, for example, could even be considered sacred gay hymns! So really, why wouldn't Wainwright be devoted (and possibly more than a little obsessed) with material that is truly dripping with queer pop cultural significance?

What Live at Carnegie Hall offers for your money is 27 dazzling songs presented in the same order as Garland's original show with the same 36-piece orchestration and nothing is held back. This is a sheer diva experience.

Where ‘Get Happy’ might be something that the rest of us sing into our hairbrushes in the privacy of our teenaged bedrooms, Wainwright pushes the fantasy further and makes it real. Although Garland is no longer with us, Wainwright demonstrates that he's as near as dammit the next best thing.

There are too many highlights to mention, the songs are so familiar and sing-a-long that they feel hard-wired into one's brain, but ‘The Man That Got Away’, ‘Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart’ and ‘Do It Again’ (sung in its original key) are stand outs.

The inevitable ‘Over the Rainbow’, which features Wainwright's mum Kate McGarrigle - who attended the original Garland concert - is similarly deserving of its rapturous applause. The family affair continues elsewhere with guest spots by sister Martha Wainwright too, though dad Loudon does not appear.

This is no Stars In Their Eyes impersonation, however, Live at Carnegie Hall may be a tribute, but it is not a carbon copy. Wainwright is well aware of his own talent and star power and he offers his own stunning interpretations of the songs, and the performance, which has its own soul, rather than a flat facsimile of something that happened long ago.

We all know how Garland's story ended, but Wainwright is a different kettle of fish, his life is not a tragic downward spiral, and what Garland presented earnestly, Wainwright performs with a camp kind of wink and a nod.

It's hard to say what Garland herself might have made of all this. The only clue is in the inclusion of guest singer Lorna Luft, also known as Garland's daughter. Garland's other daughter, Liza Minelli, is absent from the production but Luft's exuberant version of ‘After You're Gone’ brings the house down and you can't help wondering if someone somewhere is smiling.

Live at Carnegie Hall, by Rufus Wainwright
Label: Universal
Released: 21 January 2008
ASIN: B000XMZJX8

We want Rufy! Get Live at Carnegie Hall by Rufus Wainwright online and save some money to put towards the live the DVD of Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! does Judy! Judy! Judy! and the original - Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall. Alternatively, check out Lorna Luft singing Songs My Mother Taught Me.