A work so rich and influential: a box pays tribute to the composer Michel Legrand, creator of the themes of Les
Demoiselles de Rochefort
, between covers by Iggy Pop or Clara Luciani, collaborations with Miles Davis or Stan Getz.
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"I think he would have liked to live longer to see all these young singers, composers, fans of his music come to him",
describes for AFP Macha Méril, his last great love story, ambassador of his repertoire.
The new wave of the French variety quotes him abundantly.
Like when Juliette Armanet takes over, at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival in 2018,
The mills of my heart
, music from the film
The Thomas Crown Affair
.
And his first Oscar in 1969 (before
Unété 42
, 1972, and
Yentl
, 1984).
A reinterpretation included in the
Yesterday & Tomorrow
box set which comes out this Friday.
Five CDs (
Covers and re-readings
,
Singer
,
Jazz
,
Variety instrumental
,
Cinema
) supervised by Stéphane Lerouge, biographer of Legrand.
There is also Clara Luciani, supported by electro producer Vladimir Cauchemar, who takes
La chanson de Delphine
(from Les
Demoiselles de Rochefort
) to another dimension.
A version of
Noël d'espoir
benefits from the crooning timbre of Iggy Pop (alongside Madeleine Peyroux, Carla Bruni, Emilie Simon and Rufus Wainwright).
The presence of
L'Iguane
is not surprising.
The former Stooges hothead has colored his latest album
Free
with very jazzy hues.
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Between classical and jazz
But jazz is Michel Legrand's other DNA.
"Bach, Ravel, Stravinsky and Prokofiev were his masters in classical music and then he had a huge crush on jazz"
, sums up Macha Méril.
The French pianist and arranger will rub shoulders with big names, such as Stan Getz (
Flight
,
Now, you've gone
are in the box) or Miles Davis (
Round midnight
,
The Jitterbug waltz
).
“Nadia Boulanger (monument of the classic, professor of Legrand) was sad that he had this penchant for jazz, but, if we add his mastery of the classic, he could walk in all genres”
, dissects Macha Méril.
Her acting name, Méril, comes from jazz and one of its singers, Helen Merrill.
Macha Méril and Michel Legrand met for the first time in Rio in 1964 on the sidelines of a film festival.
“He was surprised that I accompanied him to listen to bossa nova in the clubs
,” she recalls.
Their love at first sight at the time will not go further than flirting, the actress and the musician being engaged with others.
Half a century later, in 2014, when she was 74 and he was 82, they got closer again and this time got married.
The composer will die in 2019.
Read also“He waited for me”: in tears, Macha Méril confides in the last words of Michel Legrand
Legendary Japanese animation music
From now on, she continues her work.
“He charged me with it, when he was still very vague in terms of legal matters (laughs), all of a sudden, for his estate, he was very efficient, he made me a will because he knew that no one but me could have the moral right to his music
,” she says.
Among his many hats, Macha Méril chairs the association awarding
the Michel Legrand prize
, created in 2021, which notably rewards a composer of film music.
The jury for the next edition, on May 8, is chaired by Claude Lelouch and includes, among others, actress (and director and singer) Agnès Jaoui and Bertrand Burgalat, singer-songwriter and producer.
An honorary prize will also be awarded to Joe Hisaishi (we hear his cover of The
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
in the box), best known for his soundtracks to the legend of Japanese animated films Hayao Miyazaki (
Princess Mononoke
,
Spirited Away
, etc).
Michel Legrand's notes have spread everywhere.