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Editions 23 presents |
FRANCIS LAI STORY | |||||||||
| £ 97.00 | TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE |
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| Film soundtracks | Songs | special edition | |
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TRACK EXCERPTS | Listen before you buy ! |
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A Word from the Publisher Francis Lai is one of the French composers to have most significantly marked his generation. It is therefore very natural that we should want to trace the steps of this man whose life has been as exceptional as it has been eclectic. His talent, as well as his rare human qualities and attentiveness to others, has meant a life enriched with a multitude of meetings that few men can lay claim to and that has undoubtedly enabled him to develop his artistic personality. The first five CDs retrace chronolgically through a hundred or so different soundtracks from 90 films, the evolution of his compositions for cinema, and the importance of these meetings. The very first one with Claude Lelouch for 'A Man and A Woman', is essential without the meetings that followed (with René Clément, Jean Delannoy, Dino Risi, Arthur Hiller, Georges Lautner, Nikita Mikhalkov, Henri Verneuil, Claude Zidi etc...) would perhaps never have come to be. The next two CDs devoted to film scores, also reveal their share of plentiful meetings. When talking of songs it is also necessary to talk of the songwriters and singers. How could we not cite the name of Pierre Barouh, who is of course closely involved in the artistic world of composition, as is Nicole Croisille, the composer's favourite singer and Christian Gaubert, associated with the musical arrangements and orchestral conducting of almost 60 film soundtracks. The eighth volume presents some of the international singers of Francis Lai. Far from representing all the interest the composer has incited throughout the world, a few names such as Andy Williams, Tom Jones and Carly Simon are sufficient to measure the distance this small composer from Nice has followed from the beginning of his career. How could we not also appreciate his collaboration with eminent English-speaking composers such as Tim Rice and Don Black. Francis Lai's undeniable talent as a singer will surprise many people, through his extreme sensitivity, warmth and the originality of his voice pitch; this ninth volume, an archetype of the essential 'Francis Lai romanticism' providing moments of pure joy would not have had the same impact without the participation of songwriters such as Catherine Desage, Pierre Grosz, Michèle Senlis and once again Pierre Barouh. Throughout the following four volumes, we remain astounded by the number of artists singing Lai from so many different horizons. We can almost imagine that the second half of the artistic 20th century agreed to meet at Francis Lai's, first of all in the 'Place du Tertre', then later on in the 'Place du Trocadéro'. On his entry into the world of French song, he had two influential fairy godmothers : Claude Goaty and Edith Piaf. Bernard Dimey also provided the magic of his first texts. As every song is an alchemy, other magicians have succeeded him for more than 50 years, combining their talent in perfect harmony with that of the composer. The fourteenth and final volume relives some of the instrumental theme tunes composed for different occasions, television series, documentaries, live shows or radio and TV credits. This is a less well known aspect of Francis Lai's career which is nevertheless just as alive. We could have compiled a fifteenth volume and more, but the aim of the initiator of this project was not to provide an exhaustive collection. These 14 volumes represent 15 hours of music and songs in homage to the talent of Francis Lai; a tribute to the composer's work, but also to all the producers, composers and singers that have marked his career. It can even be seen as a collection of so much talent, memories, sometimes suffering, hard work and happiness, a sort of "party celebration" amongst the ardent admirers of the artist, where the door remains wide open to those who have yet to discover him. We ask for your indulgence for any omissions, for reasons of the greatest importance (unobtainable recording, etc...). This boxed set is the result of immense love, we have made the decision to include recordings for which we have not been able to contact the parties concerned. We would like to offer our apologies to these people and invite them to contact us in order to settle this sitution. All the contributing artists in the collection are listed in an index, with the relevant works against their name. They all receive our sincere thanks and, as celebrations have always been an occasion for getting together, please do not hesitate to contact us on our web site : www.francis-lai.com. Rémy Le Moal |
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