quarta-feira, 31 de março de 2010

Les burgeois




Jacques Brel nasceu em 8 de Abril de 1929 no n.º 138 da avenue du Diamant em Schaerbeek, comuna de Bruxelas (Bélgica), de pai flamengo mas francófono e de mãe de sangue francês e italiano.
Ainda que em casa se falasse o francês, os Brel eram de ascendência flamenga, com uma parte da família originária de Zandvoorde, perto de Ieper. O pai de Brel era sócio de uma cartonaria e este estaria supostamente destinado a trabalhar na empresa da família.
A seguir à escola primária, onde entrou em 1935, frequentou o Colégio Saint-Louis, a partir de 1941. Aluno pouco brilhante, é neste colégio que Brel começa a mostrar interesse pelas artes: em 1944, aos 15 anos, colabora na criação do grupo de teatro, actua em várias peças, escreve três pequenas histórias e interpreta ao piano alguns improvisos para poemas que ele próprio escreveu.
Em 1946 adere a uma organização de solidariedade católica, a Franche Cordée, de ajuda aos doentes, pobres, órfãos e velhos. É aqui, e não no seu ambiente familiar ou escolar, que se inicia a sua formação cultural. Entre as actividades desta organização contava-se a realização de recitais onde Brel se iniciou nas apresentações públicas, acompanhando-se a si próprio à guitarra. É aqui que conhece Thérèse Michielsen ("Miche") com quem se vem a casar em 1950.
Vagueando pelo mundo
Os seus brevets aéreos e marítimos abrem-lhe a porta à possibilidade de vaguear pelo mundo por ar ou por mar. Voa pela Europa qual Saint-Exupéry (mito que o acompanhava desde há muito). Em 1974, após comprar um veleiro de 19 metros decide partir com Madly Bamy que tinha conhecido na rodagem do filme L'Aventure c'est l'aventure para uma volta ao mundo de 3 anos. Em Setembro, ao aportar nos Açores, toma conhecimento do falecimento do seu grande amigo Jojo a quem vem a dedicar uma canção. Em Outubro é-lhe detectado um pequeno tumor no pulmão e no mês seguinte é efectuada a ablação do lobo pulmonar superior esquerdo. Em Dezembro, após um pequeno repouso, desloca-se ao local onde está o seu veleiro e decide prosseguir a sua viagem. Em Novembro de 1975 chega à baía de Atuona, na ilha Hiva Oa no arquipélago das Ilhas Marquesas, Polinésia Francesa.
As ilhas Marquesas
Naquelas ilhas isoladas Brel não procura o isolamento mas antes o contacto com uma realidade totalmente desconhecida, e sob certos aspectos ainda não contaminada pela "civilização". Em 1976 aluga uma pequena casa em Hiva Oa, vende o veleiro e decide adquirir um pequeno avião bimotor. Ajuda a combater o isolamento das ilhas mais remotas do arquipélago, disponibilizando o seu avião para transporte de correio ou de pessoas.
Os últimos anos
Citação«Tenho menos medo da morte do que de me tornar um velho cretino” – Jacques Brel
Em 1977 desloca-se a Paris, onde grava discretamente em estúdio doze canções das 17 que havia escrito, e que virão a integrar o seu último álbum, esperado há mais de 10 anos, e chamado, simplesmente, "Brel". Gravado nas difíceis condições físicas e psicológicas de Brel que se podem antever, torna-se perturbador ler as últimas palavras da sua canção “Les Marquises”: "Veux-tu que je te dise / Gémir n'est pas de mise / Aux Marquises"(trad:"Se queres que te diga/Gemer não é opção/Nas Marquesas"). O disco teve um sucesso imediato: apesar de Brel ter pedido que não houvesse publicidade, mais de um milhão de exemplares estavam reservados antes da edição e setecentos mil foram adquiridos logo no primeiro dia da sua venda ao público. Alheio a esse sucesso volta à ilha pela penúltima vez. Em 1978 a saúde começa-se a degradar e retorna a Paris em Julho para novos tratamentos. Em Outubro é internado no Hospital com uma embolia pulmonar, vindo a falecer com 49 anos, às 4 e 10 da madrugada do dia 9 de Outubro de 1978. O regresso a Hiva Oa, dá-se uma última vez: Jacques Brel é sepultado no cemitério local.
(Fonte: Wikipédia)



sexta-feira, 26 de março de 2010

Les Loups



Serge Reggiani (May 2, 1922 – July 23, 2004) was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. For many years, he struggled with alcoholism, caused in part by the 1980 suicide of his son Stephan.
After acting school (Conservatoire des arts cinématographiques) he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents"). During World War II, he left Paris to join the French resistance.
His first feature film came in 1946 with his role in Les portes de la nuit ("The Doors of the Night"). He later went on to perform in 80 films including Casque d'or, Les Misérables (1958),Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist (1998).
In spite of never quite reaching the peak with his acting career, he did triumph in the theatre in 1959 with his performance in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Séquestrés d'Altona. In the meantime, though, in 1965 he began a second career, that of a singer (at the age of 43), with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand and later with great assistance of the French diva Barbara. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French "Chanson" ("song") and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy rugged image made him popular with both young and older listeners.
His best known songs include "Les loups sont entrés dans Paris" ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and "Sarah (La femme qui est dans mon lit.)" ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed"), the latter written by Georges Moustaki. However, one of his regular songwriters throughout his career was Boris Vian (Le Déserteur, Arthur où t'as mis le corps, La Java des bombes atomiques). His new young fans identified with his left-wing ideals and antimilitarism, most notably during the 1968 student revolts in France. With age he became more and more acclaimed as one of the best interpreters of the French chanson also bringing the poetry of Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Prévert closer to his audience. In 1995, he made a comeback to the singing stage, giving a few concerts despite his deteriorated health and personal distress, the last one being held as late as in the year of his death, in spring of 2004.
In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork.
Serge Reggiani died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well known French singer Sacha Distel. He is interred in Montparnasse Cemetery.


Fonte: Wikipedia

sábado, 20 de março de 2010

Camarade

>

Jean Ferrat (born Jean Tenenbaum, 26 December 1930 – 13 March 2010) was a French singer-songwriter and poet.
Ferrat was born in Vaucresson, Hauts-de-Seine. He was the youngest of four children from a modest family which moved to Versailles in 1935, Ferrat studied at the Jules Ferry College. His father, a Russian Jewish, was deported to Auschwitz in 1942, where he died. Ferrat dropped out of school to help the family survive.
In the early 1950s he started in Parisian cabaret. After that he has avoided any particular musical style, but remained faithful to himself, his friends and his public.
In 1956, he set "Les yeux d'Elsa" ("Elsa's eyes"), a Louis Aragon poem which Ferrat loved, to music. Its rendition by popular artist André Claveau brought Ferrat some initial recognition as a songwriter.
His first 45 RPM single was released in 1958, without success. It was not until 1959, with publisher Gérard Meys, who also became his close friend and associate, that his career started to flourish. He signed with Decca and released his second single, "Ma Môme", in 1960 under the musical direction of Meys.
In 1961 Ferrat married Christine Sèvres, a singer who performed some of his songs. He also met Alain Goraguer, who became an arranger of his songs. His debut album, Deux Enfants du Soleil, was released that year. Ferrat also wrote songs for Zizi Jeanmaire and went on the road, sharing billing with her at the Alhambra for six months.
Nuit et Brouillard, which followed in 1963, was awarded the Académie Charles Cros's Grand Prix du Disque. Ferrat toured again in 1965, but stopped performing on stage in 1973.
In 1990, he received an award from the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique, (SACEM) the French association of songwriters, composers and music publishers.
In 2010, Ferrat died of a long illness at the age of 79.


A minha homenagem!...

quarta-feira, 17 de março de 2010

C'est si bon




Yves Montand (French pronunciation: 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991) was an Italian-born French actor and singer.
Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy to Giovanni and Giuseppina, poor peasants. Montand's family left Italy for France in 1923. He grew up in Marseille, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's barber shop, and later on the docks. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover.
Montand went on to international recognition as a singer and actor, starring in numerous films. His recognizably crooner songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics.
He was one of the most famous performers at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia music hall.
In 1951, he married the actress Simone Signoret, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage was, by all accounts, fairly harmonious, lasting until her death in 1985, although Montand had a number of well-publicised affairs, notably with Marilyn Monroe, with whom he starred in one of her last films, Let's Make Love. During his career, Montand acted in a number of American motion pictures as well as on Broadway. He was nominated for a Cesar Award for "Best Actor" in 1980 for "I comme Icare" and again in 1984 for "Garçon!"
In the French dubbings of Looney Tunes, the character Pepé Le Pew is an Italian skunk named "Pépé le putois". The voice characterization was often based on Montand's performances.
In 1986, after his international box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his most memorable performances, as the scheming uncle in the two-part film: Jean de Florette, co-starring Gérard Depardieu, and Manon des Sources, co-starring Emmanuelle Béart. The film was a worldwide critical hit and raised Montand's profile in the U.S., where he made an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman."


quinta-feira, 11 de março de 2010

Sous le ciel de Paris



Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal grandparents. Gréco also became involved in the Résistance, and was caught but not deported because of her young age. She moved to Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 1946 after her mother left the country for Indochina.
Gréco became a devotee of the bohemian fashion of some intellectuals of post-war France. A famous description of Gréco is that her voice "encompasses millions of poems". She was known to many of the writers and artists working in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Boris Vian.
Gréco spent the post liberation years frequenting the Saint Germain cafes, immersing herself in political and philosophical Bohemian culture. As a regular figure at legendary music and poetry venues like Le Tabou on Rue Dauphine, Greco became acquainted with Miles Davis and Jean Cocteau, even being given a role in Cocteau’s film Orphee in 1949. That same year, she began a new singing career with a number of well-known French writers writing lyrics; Raymond Queneau's "Si Tu T’Imagines" was one of her earliest songs to become popular.
In 2009 her newest album, Je Me Souviens De Tout, was released. To mark the occasion, Juliette Gréco, accompanied by her husband Gérard Jouannest on the piano, and Jean-Louis Matinier on the accordion gave four concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in early June.
Wikipédia

sexta-feira, 5 de março de 2010

Chanson pour l'auvergnat




Georges-Charles Brassens (Sète, França em 22 de Outubro de 1921 – Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, França em 29 de Outubro de 1981) foi um autor de canções, compositor e cantor francês simpatizante e entusiasta do anarquismo.

Georges Brassens nasceu a 22 de Outubro de 1921 em Sète, porto de pesca francês banhado pelo mar mediterrâneo, filho de Elvira Dagrossa e do seu segundo marido Jean-Louis Brassens. A mãe é de origem italiana e profundamente católica, enquanto o pai é um livre pensador anticlerical. Todavia esta família, que inclui um quarto membro, a meia-irmã Simone, filha do primeiro casamento da mãe de Brassens, tem um ponto em comum : todos apreciam a música e todos têm de memória numerosas canções que adoram entoar, seja Tino Rossi, Charles Trenet ou tantos outros artistas populares da época. Educado neste meio, Brassens interessa-se naturalmente pela música, mas também pela composição.
Apesar de ser um fraco aluno, consegue ser motivado pelo seu professor de literatura Alphonse Bonnafé. Este, ao ver alguns pequenos poemas do jovem Brassens(na altura com 15 anos), e apesar de os achar ainda de fraca qualidade, incentiva-o a estudar os clássicos e assim poder melhorar a qualidade do seu trabalho.
Há uma característica que Brassens revela desde novo: aprecia funcionar em grupo e gosta de estar envolvido com os amigos. O seu primeiro grupo desta época começa por fazer pequenos distúrbios pela vila para mais tarde ter um convivio de tipo diferente: passeiam-se pela praia e pelos bares da vila, discutem a canção e os filmes, organizam projecções de cinema privadas, e chegam mesmo a formar uma pequena orquestra em que Brassens toca banjo.