Inspired by the French cinema of the Nouvelle Vague, Marie & Jean-Claude Séférian – a man and a woman – came and put together chansons from French movies. The result was a program that resurrect the wonderful black and white photographs by Claude Lelouch or the musical film “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” by Jacques Demy with the young Catherine Deneuve in the mind’s eye.
The unforgettable songs by the great composers Charles Aznavour, Francis Lai and Luiz Bonfá invite the listener on a melancholy journey to a time when the urge for freedom, for demarcation and for equality was huge. Music and film were one and a new hope for a society traumatized by two wars.
As a teenager, Jean-Claude Séférian was so fascinated by the selected film scores that he had trouble following the story. He was particularly impressed by the multiple Oscar winners Michel Legrand and Francis Lai. In addition, Charles Aznavour was and is the great idol of his childhood.
On her CD “Un homme et une femme” father and daughter resurrect the melancholy and the elegance of French film music. Music that arouses longing for the past and addresses the eternally exciting interpersonal relationships.
The present recordings are a symbiosis of the classical French chanson, embodied by the chansonnier living in Germany and the jazz idiom of a singer, whom we know so far through her jazz formations.
