He had a major influence on the development of modern American stage music: Kurt Weill was one of the most important composers of the first …
Edith Piaf: A Sonorous Laugh (2.)
Continued from part one For Edith Piaf, there seemed to be no such thing as a hopeless situation: After Lepplée’s death, she was discovered by …
Edith Piaf: A Sonorous Laugh (1.)
On that October evening in 1949 when the world boxing champion Marcel Cerdan, Edith Piaf’s lover, was killed, Piaf was due to perform at the …
Hildegard Knef: The Berlin Snout
Ella Fitzgerald once said she was the best singer who actually had no voice: Hildegard Knef is one of the most famous German actresses and …
Luigi Tenco: Cantautore with style
He both sang about and mercilessly portrayed the Italian society of the time: some music connoisseurs go so far as to say that he helped …
Barbara: The Singing Pianist
This article is published on the 25th anniversary of Barbara’s death on 24 November 2022. Her chansons all had autobiographical features: there was no such …
Jacques Brel: The chanson was his vocation
“There is nothing more annoying than having to put a note under every word,” Jacques Brel once claimed. It was his greatest passion and talent …
Max Colpet: Where Have All The Words Gone
The German translation of the socially critical song Where Have All The Flowers Gone was penned by him: Marlene Dietrich made the song known to …
Yves Montand: Chanson, Charm, Chic (2.)
In 1966, Yves Montand starred in the Formula One film Grand Prix, which was originally planned to feature Steve McQueen. To this day, Grand Prix remains a unique film: the realistic footage of the racetrack, shot at enormous expense, still amazes.
Montand plays the fictional Ferrari driver Jean-Pierre Sarti in the film.
Although the sixties were an era of professional success for Yves Montand, two strokes of fate occurred in that decade…
Yves Montand: Chanson, Charm, Chic (1.)
His big idol was Fred Astaire: Yves Montand (civil name Ivo Livi) was born on October 13, 1921 in Tuscany and grew up in humble circumstances. In 1924 Yves Montand’s family fled to Marseille: the political situation in Italy destroyed the Livis’ existence…