a multidecade and multilingual singer indeed
Paris, September 29, 2003
A historic event I wouldn’t like to miss, yesterday I at the Olympia Theatre: Petula Clarks come back to this promised land of Chanson. Returning to Paris is meant to
promote her album “Kaleidoscope”.
multidecade & multilingual
Of course last night was a Mekka to people with nostalgia who’d had to do
without the presence of their youth idol for 38 years. Finally Paris was treated to songs of the 60s and 70s, some in English, some in French like “Marin” and “chariot” but also a Gainsbourg medley containing a.o.
“la Gadoue” (in honour of Serge Gainsbourg †1991). A song I remember well from my childhood is “c’est ma chanson”. It was a hit those days and I loved the Napolitan kind of sound of it. Yesterday the Chanteuse
from England sang it twice, once in the opening medley of course.
On both sides of the Channel she has been celebrated for a couple of decades as an interpret of delicate songs but also up tempo themes like “Downtown”.
What I most appreciate about Petula is her multilingual choice: besides her English repertory she also goes French, Italian, German, Spanish, all of these are not her vernacular.
impressive at Sunset Boulevard
Ageing doesn’t seem to bother at all (she’ll become 71 in November) knowing that her part of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard last year was impressive.
Tours, festivals, and albums up till now are the evidence of an active life as a musician.
Petula’s Clarks carreer is not only a long one, it also includes productions with names of fame like Fred Astaire in the 60s. She covered
themes from various Musicals “Les Misérables” and “Cats” dealing with them in her own way. I also remember her short Elton John medley in ’95 that I enjoyed in a way.
Decades after her
first concert in Paris (in ’57) she’s still as confident as to make a conquest once more. Lively and dressed in splendid gold, she convinced me even more than eight years ago. Ending her 2nd set Petula went as I’d expect her to,
with an ovation and a joue en bis with even 3 songs….
This was definitely a great start of my holiday in Paris..
Keith Lane Chester