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…
Dalida: The exotic chanteuse (3.)
Iolanda wanted to present her new musical style at the Olympia: But the owner of the Olympia, Bruno Coquatrix, did not believe that she would attract the audience with her new style. Dalida herself was also doubtful: she was not sure if her audience, used to chansons like Bambino, would accept melancholic chansons.
Dalida: The exotic chanteuse (2.)
The success of Bambino was enormous: she received a gold record for 300,000 sold records of Bambino. But at this point Dalida’s journey of success was far from over.
Lucien Morisse, her lover and also her manager, landed a second hit with her: Gondolier.
The song was written in French and Italian – which improved the chances for success. The plan worked: Gondolier became Dalida’s second big hit – this time the song also enjoyed great success in Italy.
Dalida: The exotic chanteuse (1.)
It was a life marked by the longing for love: the life of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti. Under her stage name Dalida, she became world famous.
She sang in no less than ten languages and was admired by a wide audience.
Her image: the “Madonna”. There were critics who compared Dalida to a beauty from ancient Egypt.
But who was Iolanda Gigliotti?