The Slipped Disc daily comfort zone (176): Angela’s my old Dutch
mainIt’s a milestone birthday for Romania’s finest, 55 today.
Did you know she sang Brel in both French and Dutch? One of my alltime favourite tracks.
It’s a milestone birthday for Romania’s finest, 55 today.
Did you know she sang Brel in both French and Dutch? One of my alltime favourite tracks.
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Brel was a very charismatic guy. His songs are not only best when he sang them, but watching him perform them to an audience is even more effective than just listening to him from studio recordings.
I dare say there is an exception: Nina Simone’s breathtaking “Ne me quitte pas”!
Singing to Queen Beatrix.
Listening to Angela Gheorghiu and Jeroen Willems side by side, interpreting Brel in French and in Dutch, I cannot help reflecting how much more adequate the Dutch ductus sounds, how much more germane the inflexions and the music. Without wanting to fuel the flames of yet another Wallon-Vlaams linguistic war, to my ear, the melody, indeed the entire phonology of Brel’s French, when sung, has a certain West Flemish ring to it, above and beyond the francophone Bruxellois. In Angela Gheorghiu’s impeccable operatic French, this layer is — inevitably — lost.
Yes, Brel was that rare and now almost extinct species which extremists on both sides of the communal divide would want to expurgate from the cultural memory: ‘un Flamand francophone’.
Poignant footnote: the video shows a notable figure in the audience, then-Queen Beatrix. She would have also been one of the guests of honor seven years later, at a gala in Amsterdam, equally featuring Jeroen Willems. But Willems suffered cardiac failure during rehearsals earlier that day and died hours later. The gala was cancelled. A random but tragic link with this reminder of Angela Gheorghiu’s birthday.
Romanians tend to be good linguists, so not surprised she takes this on. Thanks
with Jeroen Willems. Great actor and a good singer. Died only 50 years old
This is one of Brel’s greatest songs, IMO – partly thanks to Gérard Jouannest, who co-composed it with Brel and whose piano work lent it such poignancy. His widow, Juliette Greco, recorded a cover of it.