Streisand cancels concert in Rome

Streisand's best-loved hits include People and The Way We Were

Barbra Streisand has cancelled a concert in Rome next month.

The cancellation follows protests from Italian consumer groups over high ticket prices but organisers insist the decision was not linked to the outcry.

A spokeswoman for concert promoter CPI said the 15 June concert was scrapped because of production problems.

The event was intended to launch the US star's European tour. Organisers say a revised itinerary will be available in the next few days with new dates added.

Asked whether the protest over tickets was a factor in the decision by tour promoters to drop Rome from Streisand's itinerary, the spokeswoman said: "Absolutely not".

The 65-year-old singer and actress is still expected to perform the second concert date on her European tour, in Vienna, on 21 June.

'Shameful' ticket prices

Earlier this week, two Italian consumer groups called for the concert at Rome's Stadio Flaminio to be cancelled labelling ticket prices, ranging from 150 euros (£100) to more than 900 euros (£600), "absurd and shameful".

The Adusbef and Codacons groups urged the city and the Italian Olympic Committee to deny Streisand use of the Stadio Flaminio.

The 24,000-seat stadium "is public property and cannot be used for immoral deals that are shameful to a civilized country", Adusbef and Codacons said.

Streisand will be accompanied by a 58-piece orchestra on her month-long European tour, which includes concerts in Austria, France, Ireland and the UK.

Streisand's 2006 US tour was ranked the second-highest grossing tour in the US last year, generating $92.5m (£46.8m), with the average ticket costing $298 (£151).

Tickets for her first date at London's O2 arena - formerly the Millennium Dome - sold out in just 20 minutes, despite tickets costing between £100 and £600.