Hier, encore: an unmissable centenary
Daily Comfort ZoneThe French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour was born a hundred years ago, on May 22, 1924.
As refugees from Turkish genocide in Armenia, and forced to flee again from their next home in Salonica, the Aznavours had no sympathy for the German occupation of France. They risked their lives to shelter a large number of Jews, Armenians and other fugitives from the Nazis.
Where most musicians engaged in active collaboration, Aznavour and his sister worked with a Résistance group to save lives.
Charles was a magnificent singer, a natural television entertainer and an immortal hero.
Thanks very much for this Mr. Lebrecht.
For those who may think that Aznavour doesn’t sound Armenian: it was a “french colored” version of his real family name, Aznavourian.
Aznavour was also a great actor: the must see in his filmography are “Tirez sur le pianiste”, “Un taxi pour Tobrouk”, and “Les Fantômes du chapelier”. And for the dessert: he is the main guest in the Muppet Show episode 109 !
I remember him in The Adventurers, my favourite bad movie — it’s gripping! He was fabulous.
One of the last in that great tradition of French popular song that started before Mistanguett and ended, I suppose with Francoise Hardy et al. in the 1960s.
The world has lost something irreplaceable.
To his filmography we might add his indispensible presence on the soundtrack of Godard’s “Une Femme est une Femme”.
I forgot something important for Slipped Disc readers about Aznavour’s actor activities. He did the French narration in Prokofiev’s Peter and the wolf, played by Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra Of Europe (the Deutsche Gramophone record of 1990 where the English narration was made by Sting).
Aznavour had 6 children ! Maybe it is why he is one of the few who remember that the text is intended for the children. Give it a try online: it is my favorite Peter and the wolf.
Thank you for the suggestion!