A Farewell Concert
By Z.T.
The Armenian Weekly
September 30, 2006
"When in his early 20s, a singer performing on the stage stops for a
few minutes, it is to solve the mistakes that just happened. When in
his 30s the singer stops for few minutes, it is just to check whether
the public is happy. And when an old veteran singer stops for a few
minutes, it is just to take a breath," said a singer called Charles
Aznavour in the late 1960s, when he was almost 45, during a concert
in the famous Olympia Hall in Paris.
Well! On September 21, at the Opera House in Boston, Aznavour
performed nonstop at the age of 82 for more than two hours. No
need for proof-singing, proof-performing, stopping or even taking a
breath. The intermission would have probably made him more tired. Once
he was done with a song, he thought of another song, and kept singing,
never looking back.
Convincing the public was and still is Aznavour’s pursuit. He starts
by building the mood, which in fact lasts for two hours. However,
already from his first and second songs, and within minutes, the
public is convinced and enjoys his unique world.
The stage is a primary need for him and he is still in love
with it. Every issue, even secondary details, is important for
Aznavour. Each show is a workshop for him. Before starting the USA
farewell tour, he insisted that during this tour he would sing in
Shakespeare’s language. Though some of the songs went very smoothly,
some others, like the overwhelming song "Emmenez Moi" ("Take Me"),
could have been better sung in its original language, without crossing
the English Channel. It would have been better to have taken the
public to the land of Hugo and Molière.
On the other hand, the not so well-known "Qui" ("Who") crossed the
Pyrennees smoothly and was performed in Cervantes’ language-becoming
"Quien" with two guitars performing on a flamenco beat and making a
novelty in the field of world music. This was a preview for especially
Latin beat style music lovers. After the North American Tour, Aznavour
will fly to Havana to make his next record with the Cuban musician
Chucho Valdez, star of the film "Calle 54" dedicated to Latin jazz.
Nevertheless, the "cream of the cream" was another forgotten piece
called "Isabelle," which hasn’t been sung by him for more than
25 years.
With a dark stage and his theatrical voice dominating the 13 musicians
with their instruments, for a few minutes Aznavour recreated on the
stage scenes from the ’60s new wave movies by Jean Luc Goddard and
Francois Truffaut.
Very free on stage, he showed that he was the same person in
life. Another masterpiece was "Mon Emouvant Amour," ("My Moving Love"),
a love story with a deaf woman.
He is not a novelist, nor does he invent situations or stories. He
gives us simple phrases, which audiovisually can be smoothly described
and bring language to existing facts and events. He follows the news
and writes about life, from social problems to ecological issues to
hatred, danger, freedom, dedication etc.
These are the real subjects that he translates into song.
Far from the profound world of the late Leo Ferer’s world (also
different from another late singer, Jacques Brel’s world of
binary oppositions) Aznavour is considered first and foremost a
songwriter. The words come first, while the melody and rhythm are
added later, written by him or a different composer.
This short, wiry son of Armenian immigrants, the son of Misha and Knar
Aznavourian, didn’t perform any songs related to his origin-"Ils Sont
Tombes" ("They Fell") or "Pour Toi Armenie" ("For You, Armenia")-nor
did he make any related comments.
This attitude doesn’t mean, however, that he has forgotten the land
of his ancestors.
Aznavour has already paid his dues; he even did more. He is still
remembered for organizing help after the devastating earthquake that
killed almost 50,000 people in Armenia in 1988.
His farewell concert will continue for a while, but after the U.S.,
it is back to his roots: He’ll perform in Armenia, and then China and
Latin America. "The show must go on" after all, with the evergreen
"Yesterday, When I Was Young" man.
–Boundary_(ID_H/JQoBJYiEr11pXaUmCY2Q)–