Vlaams Radio Koor, Dani Klein, Hervé Niquet: Les amants de Paris

Two icons of French music: Edith Piaf and Francis Poulenc. Both died in 1963, and both were ‘amants de Paris’. A delightful programme that meanders from ‘very French’ to ‘very Poulenc’ and ‘very Piaf’…

The mood: Paris in the interwar years. The location: the streets from Pigalle to Belleville (en Belleville) the cabaret-bars of Montmartre, de banks of the Seine. The music: French variété, the ironic ‘art for art’s sake’ of Satie, the intense chansons of Piaf. But the drums of war are beating steadily louder, and the joyful songs give way to melancholy ones. The jewels of Piaf’s oeuvre are performed by the Brussels singer Dani Klein – this is her first venture into performing this repertoire, but she has known the songs of the French diva by heart since her childhood.

Flagey, Vlaams Radio Koor