Before I move on to the next concert piece which will be the “Tati fantaisie” (Tati Fantasy), I’d like to go a bit into those scores that appear to have been programmed for this concert but are not available because of unknown reasons – at least I’m not aware of any.
First the Godard Suite: As I’ve already said, instead of only playing a selection from the 1965 “Pierrot le fou” score by Antoine Duhamel there were at least two other pieces announced that apparently are not there. The title and video description make you believe that at least a bit from Georges Delerue’s music from “Le mépris” would be included. But it isn’t. And none of Martial Solal’s jazz score from “A bout de souffle” (Breathless) was played either.
Anyway, I personally never got into the Solal score. I really don’t think it’s great or even iconic. The film is regarded as iconic and defining of the French New Wave movement “Nouvelle Vague”, of course. I think I’ve seen Breathless twice, once on the big and once on the small screen. But that was a very long time ago, I don’t feel a rush to rewatch it in the near future. I don’t’ think it’s bad, I just don’t care that much for Godard’s movie and those characters in it. The now 91 year old Godard was born on December 3, 1930; his most recent feature film came out in 2018, “Le Livre d'image” (The Image Book).
Martial Solal
Interestingly, Solal who was born on August 23, 1927 seems to be aware that his score isn’t that great or important as a piece of music but it clearly helped him get more assignments to score films.
A native of Algiers, French Algeria, Solal grew up with Algerian-Jewish parents. His mother, an opera singer, talked him into learning the clarinet, saxophone and piano. Because of his parents' Jewish background, he was expelled from school in 1942. He educated himself after studying classical music at school.
In 1950, having settled in Paris, he started to work with Django Reinhardt and US émigrés such as Sidney Bechet and Don Byas. In the late 1950s he founded a quartet (and would also occasionally lead a big band), he had been appearing as a bandleader since 1953. Solal then entered the field of composing film music, eventually delivering over 20 film scores.
Martial Solal: “La mort” (The death), from “A bout de souffle
Martial Solal: “New York Herald Tribune“, from “A bout de souffle
Now, “Le mépris” (Contempt), released in 1963, needs no further introduction. I suppose Delerue’s beautiful “Camille” piece would have been part of the suite if there was one in the first place:
Instead of giving you the original film version which most of you know anyway I’d rather like to point out a more recent, newly arranged version that came out in 2018 on Renaud Capuçon’s magnificent album “Cinéma”:
If you wish to hear again the original score, as released in complete form by Universal France only 20 years ago, you can find it online, and that album also gives you a great overview on other major works by Delerue from his French period:
Frank Barcellini, Alain Romans & Jean Yatove – Tati Fantaisie : Mon Oncle, Les vacances de M. Hulot, Jour de fête Symphonic suite arranged by Bruno Fontaine, 2002 Jour de fête (1949), Les vacances de M. Hulot (1951) and Mon Oncle (1953) – the films by Jacques Tati (English titles: The Big Day, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, My Uncle)
Jean Yatove, Franck Barcellini, Alain Romans – "Tati Fantaisie"
From the video description: It is impossible, in just a few lines, to retrace the entire history of French film music. To do so, one would have to begin by recounting Jacques Tati's films, which are by no means silent but wordless, with the truculent sounds of a swinging and haunting door, improbable sausage pipes, jets of water or unusual plastic objects, signs of a frightening modern world. It is this atmosphere that the "Tati Fantasy", a symphonic suite imagined by Bruno Fontaine and created at the 2002 Cannes Festival, inspired by the music of the films My Uncle, The Holidays of Monsieur Hulot and Jour de Fête, composed respectively by Franck Barcellini, Jean Yatove and Alain Romans, re-transcribes.
Comments and observations:
I’ve always loved most of the music Jacques Tati used in his films. The score from “Jour de fête” is for me maybe the least favourite one, and “Trafic” as a whole is the one I personally like best. The two main themes from “Les vacances de M. Hulot” and “Mon Oncle” are also magnificent in their simplicity and appropriateness for their respective films. “Play Time” is a bit of a mixed bag, in my view, but the music certainly works well within the picture which is an undisputed masterpiece of film making – I think it’s the Tati film I’ve seen the most often. Then there’s a sort of outcast, Tati’s final film, made for TV, “Parade” with lots of circus-style music, a bit like Rota but clearly à la française, which is spot-on. However, I’m well aware that Tati’s approach to have his films scored the way they were is not much appreciated by lots of film music fans. It’s not boldly symphonic, it’s not complicated music, and it is shamelessly rooted in the traditions of French popular music. That could also be a problem for some.
Tati loved Jazz and asked his composers to bring this kind of music to the table and mixing it with tunes so well suited to turn them easily into chansons.
One can only speculate whether Tati would have liked Bruno Fontaine's suite. I would guess probably not. It is known that Tati did not appreciate too complicated music for his films and liked to keep it simple. Charles Dumont, who first worked for Tati in 1971 and who composed the music for "Trafic", made the experience that in the studio Tati had the recording stopped and strongly criticised the arranger and conductor Bernard Gérard that this music sounded too pompous and was not at all appropriate for his film. Whereupon Gérard, deeply offended and after some lengthy persuasion, agreed to revise the score and to tone it down considerably orchestrally. – So perhaps Tati would not have been too pleased with Fontaine's fantasy suite if it had ever reached the director’s ears. – Then again, perhaps he would have enjoyed the overall jazzy touch and those brief flourishes à la Gershwin. Who knows?
Jean Yatove, the pen name of Jean Georges Fernand Iatowski, was a French composer and film producer, who was born on May 7, 19031 in Fondettes (Indre-et-Loire) and who died on June 28, 1978 in Boulogne-Billancourt. Yatove worked with Willy Rozier (1901-1983) from as early as 1934: their collaboration continued until the director's final film in 1976. Maybe his best known work today is the score he composed for the Jacques Tati film “Jour de fête”. Yatov also produced two films: “Nuits de Pigalle” directed by Georges Jaffé (1959) and “Mon gosse de père” by Léon Mathot (1953).
“Chemisettes” – This is a later re-recording from the original score of “Jour de fête”
Alain Romans, born Roman Abram Szlezynger [Schlesinger] in Czestochowa (German: Tschenstochau or Czenstochau) in the Polish part of the Russian Empire, now modern Poland, on January 13, 1905, and died in Paris on December 19, 1988. He was a jazz composer and pianist who became a naturalized French citizen in 1930.
Romans studied in Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. His teachers included Vincent d'Indy. He later worked with Josephine Baker and Django Reinhardt. He started composing for films in the 1930s. Jacques Tati hired him as composer for two films of his, “Les vacances de M. Hulot” (1953) and “Mon Oncle” (1958); for the latter film as co-composer with Frank Barcellini.
Alain Romans was the subject of a biography, “Un cercueil de trop” (in English: One Coffin Too Many) by Barry Wynne in 1960, recounting his experiences during the Second World War: tortured, shot, left for dead by the Germans and, finally, reunited with his torturer, later in Pforzheim in Flames. There are, however, serious doubts about the authenticity of this story, especially the episode supposedly set in Saint-Malo. The version in the book apparently does not correspond to the version he later gave to the press and to French historian Alain Decaux. Also, local historians were never able to find any evidence to corroborate that story.
Les vacances de M. Hulot (1953)
“Générique de début” – displays “Quel temps fait-il à Paris ?” (How’s the weather in Paris?), the famous theme from “Les vacances de M. Hulot”; the theme was frequently reused throughout the entire film. The melody served also as the basis for a song version.
The original score as recorded for the 1953 edition was later replaced by a newly arranged score based on Romans’ original music for the film’s re-release in the early 1960s. Tati felt, it needed an update to be more in sync with contemporary tastes of the audience. It’s this newer version that is known and shown today. – I have never seen the original 1953 cut with the ‘old’ score in it.
Frank Barcellini, born May 11, 1920 in Lyon, France and died October 16, 2012 in Saint-Nazaire, France. The biographical data on Barcellini’s life and work is extremely scarce on the internet. He had only a handful of records published with his name on it. Today, his musical contribution for “Mon Oncle” appears to be his best known work. Barcellini collaborated with Alain Romans on that score.
Note that Bruno Fontaine did not include any music from the later Tati films “Play Time” (1967), “Trafic” (1971) and Parade” (1974, for television). For the joy of it, three pieces from each score added here:
“Manège” – from “Play Time” (1967), composed by Francis Lemarque (1917-2002):
The French label “naïve” released a beautifully produced 2 CD set in 2008 titled “Tati Sonorama !” with lots of music from all Jacques Tati films. It’s long out of print and has become quite rare now (see link for reference: https://www.discogs.com/de/release/1678703-Various-Tati-Sonorama-).
Bruno Fontaine introduces the next piece with a few whimsical words, however, during the performance, the orchestra reveals its own weaknesses, mostly in the brass section. The jazz symphonic piece, which is obviously a challenge for some musicians, nearly fell apart several times. The conductor and his orchestra did not fully succeed in offering a well-balanced unity of the entire piece.
The apparently difficult work by Michel Legrand (1932-2019) was newly arranged to be performed in a concert setting. Legrand originally composed this music for Pierre Chenal's film "Rafles sur la ville" which is a now largely forgotten French police-gangster thriller that premiered on January 15, 1958. Michel Legrand was still at the beginning of his career as a film composer at the time and did not have many feature films under his belt. The filming took place during the summer months of 1957 – the same year, by the way, that Bruno Fontaine was born, on 21 May 1957.
Sadly, only two weeks after this concert, the ailing Michel Legrand died in a hospital in Paris on January 26, 2019.
Michel Legrand – Rafles sur la ville Arrangement by Bruno Fontaine Rafles sur la ville, a film by Pierre Chenal, 1958 (English title: Sinners Of Paris)
Michel Legrand : Rafles sur la ville (film de Pierre Chenal)
From the video description: Telling the story of French film music also means talking about the irreplaceable Michel Legrand, who passed through the Paris Conservatory before making his mark as an accompanist and arranger in the field of popular music. He was all too soon reduced in France to his contributions to the French musical films by Jacques Demy, and yet he knew better than anyone else how to lend the sound of his century to the cinema, as illustrated marvellously by the soundtrack he composed for Pierre Chenal's film “Rafles sur la ville”, with its jazz influences ahead of its time.
About the film
The film’s story is based on a homonymous novel by famed Auguste Le Breton (1913-1999). Published in 1955, it’s a fictionalized tale about the rampage and killing career of a gangster named Emile Buisson (1902-1956) and his capture by the French police. Buisson would be later sentenced to death and guillotined. – Jean-Louis Trintignant played the Buisson character in Jacques Deray’s “Flic Story” (1974), which was scored by Claude Bolling.
The director of “Rafles sur la ville”, Pierre Chenal (Philippe Cohen actually) was born in Brussels on December 5, 1904. He died in La Garenne-Colombes near Paris on December 23, 1990. Chenal was a French director and screenwriter whose most acclaimed works came out in the 1930s.
The Cast: Charles Vanel: Léonce Pozzi, known as "Le Fondu", a crook. Bella Darvi: Cri-cri, the young mistress of "Le Fondu Danik Patisson: Lucie Barot, Gilbert's wife Michel Piccoli: Inspector Paul Vardier François Guérin: Inspector Gilbert Barot Marcel Mouloudji as Jeannot Donati, known as "Le Niçois Jean Brochard: the commissioner René Brévet Monique Tanguy: Lucienne Véron known as "Loulou Georges Vitray: Inspector Taillis Albert Dinan: Emile, the café owner Georges Douking : the madman
A glimpse on the plot: Le Fondu, a famous gangster, kills an inspector while escaping from the hospital where he was detained. Paul Vardier, a colleague of the murdered inspector, vows bloody revenge. But that seems hopeless as Le Fondu has disappeared without any trace, and nobody seems to have a clue about the gangster’s hide-out. However, one faint possibility is left: coerce Le Fondu's nephew into becoming an informer…
Sehnsuchtshafen, thanks for taking the trouble to present each performance, each movie and each composer with such accuracy, and also for painstakingly translating French stuff, as you did with various interviews by Vladimir Cosma in another thread. I'm aware that this represents a huge amount of work but not in vain since the result is truly instructive and interesting to read. Your passion for the cinema and the music of this era easily shines through.
Ich wünsche Dir einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr. Laurent
Before the concert comes to an end, the audience is treated to another climax – musically and emotionally – the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France performs a suite of themes from two widely contrasting film scores composed in 1970 and 1975 respectively by François de Roubaix (1939-1975).
François de Roubaix – Suite : Le vieux fusil and Dernier domicile connu Le vieux fusil, a film by Robert Enrico, 1975 (English title: “The Old Gun” or “Vengeance One by One”) Dernier domicil connu, a film by José Giovanni, 1970 (English title: Last Known Address)
Bruno Fontaine : Suite François de Roubaix (Le Vieux Fusil, Dernier Domicile connu)
From the video description The evening devoted to French film music obviously pays tribute to one of its greatest names, François de Roubaix, with his synthesizers and their long static tones, together with melodies gleaned from a keyboard with old-fashioned timbre. Another period, for a long chase against the clock in Dernier domicile connu, a film by José Giovanni, without forgetting the poignant music of Robert Enrico's Vieux Fusil for which he posthumously received the César for best music in 1976. The music from “Dernier domicile connu” features also a very strong main theme that is percussion driven an relies heavily a the brass section.
Comment: The orchestra’s performance is quite relaxed but not entirely free from gaffes by the brass during the second part of the suite, “Dernier domicile connu” that is. Anyway, it’s a live performance and such things can happen. It’s so much fun to see the faces of the musicians lighten up here while playing de Roubaix’ music. Especially Fontaine might have enjoyed this segment the most during his piano solos of “Clara’s theme” from “Le vieux fusil”. – That theme is my absolute favourite piece François de Roubaix ever composed. Played on the piano, it ranks among the all-time great melodies – you can hardly get enough of it – and it has long taken on a life of its own apart from the film for which it was written. One could even say that it would be better not to link it too tightly to its source of inspiration, since the film depicts such horrible and tragic events.
About the film “Le vieux fusil” (1975)
“Le vieux fusil” (English title: The Old Gun or Vengeance One by One) is a 1975 French-West German film directed by Robert Enrico (1931-2001) who also co-wrote the script with Pascal Jardin and Claude Veillot.
The cast includes: Philippe Noiret as Julien Dandieu Romy Schneider as Clara Dandieu Jean Bouise as François Joachim Hansen as SS Officer Robert Hoffmann as SS Lieutenant Karl Michael Vogler as Dr. Müller Madeleine Ozeray as Julien's Mother
The film is set shortly after the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. The authors of the screenplay drew some inspiration from the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre of 10 June 1944.
The village of Oradour-sur-Glane in Haute-Vienne, in Nazi occupied France, was burned to the ground on 10 June 1944 when 643 civilians, including non-combatant women and children, were massacred by a German company of the Waffen-SS. After the end of the war, a new village was built nearby. President Charles de Gaulle ordered that the ruins of the old village be preserved as a permanent memorial and museum. Various historians and writers published historical-critical works and literature on the events surrounding the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane. "Le vieux fusil" is so far the only feature film that deals with the topic within a fictional story frame. In 2011, a feature length documentary, titled “Une vie avec Oradour” (A life with Oradour) was released in France.
Filming of "Le vieux fusil" took place in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of France. At the time of its release on August 20, 1975, the film was met with controversy by film critics, but nonetheless it was commercially a huge success, ranking as the fifth biggest French box office hit in 1975.
Julien Dandieu (Noiret) is a debonair surgeon from Montauban. Upon learning that his wife (Romy Schneider) and daughter had been murdered in horrific circumstances by SS soldiers of the German “Reich Division”, he goes on a merciless exterminating rampage and kills off the soldiers one by one who use the local castle for shelter. Dandieu, who is the owner of that castle, knows every stone and corner in it by heart. He uses this knowledge to proceed on his path of revenge. The film is marked by scenes of intense violence, intercut with flashback sequences recalling the tragedy of a destroyed love story.
Alternative scenes were shot for the West German market, which softened and relativised particularly inhumane dialogue by the Germans in the French version, and certain brutal scenes were even edited out. In the German Democratic Republic, the film was released uncensored in a differently dubbed version close to the French original. However, Romy Schneider did not dub her voice for any of the two German versions which was very unusual for her. It seems there were disagreements with the East Germans about money, and, it’s also been speculated that Schneider opposed the self-censorship applied to the West German version. "Le vieux fusil" is one of the Romy Schneider films that remains virtually unknown in Germany today.
Not that it particularly matters, but in 1976, “Le vieux fusil” was nominated in nine categories at the first César ceremony and won three awards (Best Film, Best Actor for Philippe Noiret, Best Music for François de Roubaix).
An EP with roughly 10 ½ minutes of music from de Roubaix’s score was released in 1975. In 2003, Universal France released a CD compilation with music from several de Roubaix scores. Presented within nine tracks, that edition features more than 27 minutes from the soundtrack of “Le vieux fusil”. The CD is out of print but the music remains digitally available for purchase.
“Dernier domicile connu” (English title: “Last Known Address”) is a French-Italian film directed by José Giovanni (1923-2004) and released in 1970. The film is based on the 1965 novel “The Last Known Address” by Joseph Harrington (1903-1980).
The cast includes: Lino Ventura as Inspector Marceau Leonetti Marlène Jobert as Jeanne Dumas Philippe March as Roger Martin Michel Constanti as Greg Alain Mottet as Frank Lambert Béatrice Arnac as Silvia
Police inspector Léonetti, a tough, efficient policeman, has been sent to a second-rate police station after being reprimanded. In his new position, he is soon tasked with tracking down the perverts in the cinemas. As bait for this mission, he is assigned a new police assistant, Jeanne (Marlène Jobert), a young woman from Lyon who has dropped out of her studies in literature. The duo is then given a very difficult mission: to find a man whose testimony is crucial to the conviction of a murderer. At the beginning, there is only one lead: the last known address of Martin, of which they do not even have a photo. They start searching all over Paris.
The shooting of “Dernier domicile connu” started on September 29 and was wrapped on November 29,1969. In France, the film was released on February 25, 1970. Critics reviewed the film favourably, praising in particular the role and performance of Lino Ventura.
Four tracks from de Roubaix’ score have been released on a 45 rpm EP in 1970. Finally, in 2002 ten tracks including the remarkable Nicoletta song “Pour qui, pourquoi ?” were released by Universal France on a soundtrack compilation that also contained music from “Le Rapace” (1968) and “Un aller simple” (1971). The CD is also out of print but the music remains digitally available for purchase.
By the way, the main theme was later sampled in several songs, including "All n My Grill" (1999) by Missy Elliott and "Supreme" (2000) by Robbie Williams.
French Trailer “Dernier domicile connu”
At the end of the film, the quote “Car la vie est un bien perdu quand on n'a pas vécu comme on l'aurait voulu.” (For life is a lost good if one has not lived as one would have wanted to live.) by the Romanian poet George Coçbuc (1866-1918) is inserted. In the credits it is erroneously attributed to Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889).
Final scene from “Dernier domicile connu”
Nicoletta (born 1944) sings ”Pour Qui, Pourquoi? ”, the theme song from “Dernier domicile connu”
I recently learned that Miklos Rozsa almost got his start in the French industry. During his Paris years (1933-36), he was introduced to the producer of some Danielle Darrieux picture. The "deal" turned out to be illusory in that it would entail the young composer's taking on more expenses that he would likely recover as income. Rozsa had a jaundiced view of French business practices ever afterward -- as he recalled when he had difficulty collecting his fee for PROVIDENCE in 1976.
Sehnsuchthafen, as I explained it in another thread dedicated to Philippe Sarde, I was wondering whether I should buy the LP of DES ENFANTS GÂTÉS or not. I finally did it two days ago and what a synchronicity it was to read Bertrand Tavernier's opening statement in his liner notes :
"Le cinéma, ce muet de naissance comme dit Tristan Bernard, n'a jamais bien traité les musiciens. En France, on attend toujours une édition discographique de Van Parys, Auric, Cloerec, Duhamel, Honegger. Il a fallu Truffaut pour qu'on puisse écouter la musique de L'ATALANTE, composée par Jaubert : toutes les autres oeuvres de ce compositeur ont disparu."
I think you couldn't agree more.
Regarding François de Roubaix, I can entirely understand your enthusiasm. His premature death is certainly the greatest loss ever as far as French film composers are concerned. His music was pure magic, as shown in the suite conducted by Bruno Fontaine. Let's hope for more releases of his outstanding body of work. A LP is supposed to be published soon but I don't know yet what will be featured on it.
I recently learned that Miklos Rozsa almost got his start in the French industry. During his Paris years (1933-36), he was introduced to the producer of some Danielle Darrieux picture. The "deal" turned out to be illusory in that it would entail the young composer's taking on more expenses that he would likely recover as income. Rozsa had a jaundiced view of French business practices ever afterward -- as he recalled when he had difficulty collecting his fee for PROVIDENCE in 1976.
France in the 1930s and France in the 1970s were very different. The country has changed even more during the last 50 years. So, I don't think the mentality in the French film industry during the 30s - when Rózsa was there - was comparable with the one that ruled in the 70s. Just look how many people resorted to making sex and porn films because they wouldn't find another job or were unable to adapt their lives to do something completey different.
But maybe the producers tried to dupe Rózsa into something in the 30s, and he as a foreigner was not a well trained enough as a good businessman to counter such an unhealthy offer?
Anyway, I wonder how it would have been if Rózsa had set a French film to music, like the old classic of "Les Misérables", the one scored by Arthur Honegger?
Sehnsuchthafen, as I explained it in another thread dedicated to Philippe Sarde, I was wondering whether I should buy the LP of DES ENFANTS GÂTÉS or not. I finally did it two days ago and what a synchronicity it was to read Bertrand Tavernier's opening statement in his liner notes :
"Le cinéma, ce muet de naissance comme dit Tristan Bernard, n'a jamais bien traité les musiciens. En France, on attend toujours une édition discographique de Van Parys, Auric, Cloerec, Duhamel, Honegger. Il a fallu Truffaut pour qu'on puisse écouter la musique de L'ATALANTE, composée par Jaubert : toutes les autres oeuvres de ce compositeur ont disparu."
I think you couldn't agree more.
Regarding François de Roubaix, I can entirely understand your enthusiasm. His premature death is certainly the greatest loss ever as far as French film composers are concerned. His music was pure magic, as shown in the suite conducted by Bruno Fontaine. Let's hope for more releases of his outstanding body of work. A LP is supposed to be published soon but I don't know yet what will be featured on it.
Yes, Tavernier knew his stuff.
Another great loss to French cinéma was the killing in action of Maurice Jaubert in 1940, during the war. I think he, as a reserve captain, might have been the only film composer ever who actually served in the military AND saw action in a war where he would find his own death through enemy fire.
Having finally found the entire recording of the concert event on video a week ago, I would first like to briefly discuss the performance of "Le Mépris".
The suite of Delerue's "Le Mépris" starts at 1:57:00.
Contrary to my earlier assumption that only the Camille theme had been chosen for the concert, a representative suite of Delerue's score was heard.
I do not understand the reasons why this segment is not also available on YouTube. The orchestra plays the piece not too poorly, but with the several breaks throughout the roughly four-minute suite, the piece lacks the necessary flow to sound more cohesive.
For this reason, I extracted the sound from the video and then trimmed the overlong mini-breaks by a total of about five seconds, so that this issue is now less of a problem.
Since I will not leave this sound file on the Soundcloud channel for an unlimited period of time, I recommend that everyone who is interested in it downloads the sound file right away.
"Touchez pas au grisbi" is a French film by Jacques Becker (1906-1960), released in Paris in March 1954.
Plot: An ageing, world-weary gangster is betrayed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and his stash of eight stolen gold bars is held for ransom.
It is an adaptation of "Touchez pas au grisbi!" (1953), a novel of the same name by Albert Simonin (1905-1980), the first part of the Max le Menteur trilogy, whose subsequent volumes, also adapted for the screen, are "Le cave se rebiffe" (adapted under the same title in 1961) and "Grisbi or not grisbi" (adapted under the title "Les Tontons flingueurs" in 1963).
Although director Jacques Becker was highly respected in the film industry, his film was not shown at the Cannes Film Festival; it probably portrayed too unflattering an image of France. However, "Touchez pas au grisbi" was presented in competition at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. It was a success when it was released in cinemas. It also marked the screen debut of Lino Ventura and relaunched the career of Jean Gabin, who was finally rid of his pre-war image as a "sweetheart".
Jean Wiener (1896-1980) composed the original score giving it an obvious American feeling with the use of Jazz music. It’s bluesy main theme performed by harmonica player Jean Wetzel [there’s hardly any further info on Wetzel to be found on the internet] has since become a classic of French film music. Jerry Mengo (1911-1979) conducts the jazz band. Wiener’s music was released on a EP at the time which received multiple reissues also on CD, most notable on the 2002 compilation “Jazz in Paris – Jazz & cinéma vol. 4 (Universal – 016 506-2, EmArcy – 016 506-2, Gitanes Jazz Productions – 016 506-2).
Now, the concert performance of the rearranged piece by the Radio Symphony is terribly flawed right from the beginning because the trumpet player was so often off in his part. It even made Fontaine cringe while playing the piano parts. The orchestra showed serious issues in the brass section in some other pieces, and therefore I’ve come to the conclusion they were the weakest section of the whole orchestra. I also suspect the orchestra needed more practice. Maybe they just had one single run through in the morning? And maybe Fontaine just couldn’t handle both jobs, conducting and piano playing at the necessary capacity to pull off a better performance. This one, Grisbi, is just beyond redemption, and rightfully not to be found as a separate segment on YouTube.
Anyway, you can listen to the 3:22 minute long piece here for a limited time only, if you’re interested:
After finding the entire concert on Daily motion, it's now time to also briefly mention the solo piano performance of the love theme from "En cas de malheur", composed by René Cloërec (1911-1995) in 1958. This might as well be the first concert performance of Cloërec's music in a very long time if there ever had been one before.
Read the detailed write-up in seven parts on the film and its score, including vivid discussions with lots of sound bits and videos in the following thread:
The love theme from “En cas de malheur” starts at approx.. 1:31:10.
I am not sure why France Musique didn't upload the Fontaine performance seperately on YouTube like the other pieces. It's certainly fine. There may be two unsatisfactory issues in the performance, but on the other hand, there are other pieces they have uploaded that have much more obvious missteps.
René Cloërec conducts the love theme (suite from the original film recordings):
Here is a Youtube playlist with more music from the film, including a song and cover versions of the love theme:
Introduction by Benjamin François, Radio producer at France Music Thierry Jousse, Radio producer at France Music Bertrand Tavernier, Director
Hail the Superheroes Anne Dudley Hail the Superheroes – Suite (15:17) (commissioned by Radio France, world premiere) Presentation of Anne Dudley, 11th Prix France Music-SACEM 2017 for “Elle” by Paul Verhoeven
Award Ceremony “Prix France Music-SACEM 2019 de la musique de film” for Alexandre Desplat Sibyle Veil, Présidente-directrice générale of Radio France Marc Voinchet, Directeur of France Music Jean-Noël Tronc, Directeur générale of SACEM Michel Orier, Directeur de la musique et de la création culturelle of Radio France Alexandre Desplat, Honary Award Receipient
Entracte
Voyage à travers le cinéma français de Bertrand Tavernier (2016) Bruno Coulais Voyage à travers le cinéma français (4:29)
French-Cancan de Jean Renoir (1955) George Van Parys Ouverture (1:26)
Les Portes de la nuit de Marcel Carné (1946) Joseph Kosma Introduction – Valse (2:18)
Madame de… de Max Ophuls (1953) George Van Parys Cœur de diamant (4:14)
Touchez pas au grisbi de Jacques Becker (1954) Jean Wiener Touchez pas au grisbi (3:22) (arrangement Bruno Fontaine)*
14 Juillet de René Clair (1933) Maurice Jaubert, Jean Grémillon 14 Juillet (4:55) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
La Grande Illusion de Jean Renoir (1937) Joseph Kosma La Grande IIlusion, suite (10:08) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
En cas de malheur de Claude Autant-Lara (1943) René Cloërec En cas de malheur, pour piano solo (5:24) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)*
Films de Jacques Tati Jean Yatove, Franck Barcellini, Alain Romans Tati Fantaisie : Mon oncle, Les Vacances de M. Hulot, Jour de fête (8:51) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
Mr Arkadin de Orson Welles (1956) Paul Misraki Mr. Arkadin (5:38) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
Suite Jean-Luc Godard Martial Solal, Antoine Duhamel, Georges Delerue À bout de souffle (1960), Pierrot le fou (1965), Le Mépris (1963) Pierrot le fou (2:58) Le Mépris (4:19) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)**
Rafles sur la ville de Pierre Chenal (1958) Michel Legrand Rafles sur la ville (3:01) (symphonic arrangement by Michel Legrand, 2018)
Suite François de Roubaix Le Vieux Fusil de Robert Enrico (1975), Dernier Domicile Connu de José Giovanni (1970) Le Vieux Fusil (3:14) Dernier Domicile Connu (4:00) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
Encore
La Nuit américaine de François Truffaut (1973) Georges Delerue Grand Choral (2:13) (arrangement by Bruno Fontaine)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Bruno Fontaine conductor
* This piece is not available on YouTube. ** No music from "À bout de souffle" was played during this concert. The suite from “Le Mépris” is not available on YouTube.
Total time of music actually performed during the concert: approx. 85 minutes Total duration of the whole event including the award ceremony: approx. 142 minutes
A few additional remarks on the commissioned piece by Anne Dudley and the award ceremony:
See Anne Dudley interviewed by Benjamin François -- she speaks in English and François translates it into French. Dudley enters the stage to receive the applaus and a bouquet of flowers, followed by the interview. This segments starts at 23:50.
Dudley was the winner of the 11th "Prix France Music-SACEM" (2017) for her score “Elle”, a film directed by Paul Verhoeven. The win of a statue in plated gold or whatever is coupled with the commission by France Music and SACEM to compose a new piece of music which would be performed the following year.
I have to say, her salute to the superheroes is in my view a stupid move towards the ultra-mainstream braindead movie scene. She had card blanche and came up with a piece like that?!
Next, the touching ceremony for Alexandre Desplat: He receives an Honorary award. It's not an award for a particular score but for his entire contribution to film music.
The ceremony starts at 26:00 followed by speaches by the 'brass' of France Music and SACEM. Desplat enters the stage to receive the award at 30:08.
I would like to draw attention to a small gesture by Desplat that makes him particularly likeable as a human being for me, without telling you straight away what it is. Take a look for yourself. I'm sure you see what I mean. The previous speakers could have done the same, but for whatever reason they did not.
Desplat was unable to give the acceptance speech himself because of an operation on his vocal cords. Instead, it was read by Michel Orier.
As with Dudley, the prize is not linked to any special prize money. Desplat received a trophy and the commission to compose a piece of music that would then be played the following year. - In this particular case, it so happened that the concert in 2020 was cancelled due to a strike. I don't know if Desplat delivered his piece of music and if it was ever played at a later date.
After the Entract the main programme of the concert starts at 53:00.
Georges Delerue – Grand Choral arrangement by Bruno Fontaine La Nuit américaine, a film by François Truffaut, 1973 (English title: Day for Night)
From the video description:
"The programme of the musical evening from Tati to Godard ends with one of the most emblematic scores of French film music, very dear to the winner of the Prix d'honneur France Musique - SACEM Alexandre Desplat, the Grand Choral by composer Georges Delerue from Roubaix. Reinventing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, author of numerous chorales, Delerue's composition also has the look and feel of Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Trumpets, which gives François Truffaut's film La Nuit américaine a certain ceremonial quality."
Georges Delerue composed the score which was released multiple times in bits and pieces on vinyl and CD, most recently -- and maybe as complete as it gets -- in the five CD Truffaut box set (Universal Music France - Classics & Jazz 535 460-9) featuring five tracks from the film:
[CD 3]
5. La Nuit américaine (01:44) 6. Alphonse (02:30) 7. La Victorine (02:08) 8. Je vous présente Pamela (03:04) 9. Grand choral (02:19)
Le Grand Choral has been released on many compilations and it was rerecorded by Hugh Wolff and also conducted live by Dirk Brossé.
Wolff with the London Sinfonietta is probably the best recording of this glorious piece:
The brass is so much better than what Radio France could give -- I have to say it again.
Here is Delerue's original version:
So, yes, the concert was great in one way. Priceless, to hear so many rare pieces of French film music. But the performance was lacking to some degree. Wiener's number started as a train wreck and could never be repaired afterwards. I think it was a problem that the pianist/conductor Bruno Fontaine had to handle this orchestra. It needed a more forceful hand -- most likely more practice, too -- just to deliver a better performances. Even the very good parts, like "Coeur de diamant" showed that it was a problem when there was no conductor overseeing the orchestra while Fontaine was busy playing the piano. I don't say this to put down Fontaine. He had a difficult job. I often feel the same when I watch older concerts by Legrand or Schifrin doing their thing in a similar way.
