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Charles Aznavour

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Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour (Armenian: Շառլ Ազնավուր; born May 22, 1924) is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor and public activist. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the most well-known French singers abroad. He is known for his characteristic short figure and unique tenor voice; clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravely and soulful low notes. He has appeared in more than 60 movies, composed about 1000 songs (including 150 in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in German), and sold well over 100 million records.[1] Aznavour started his global farewell tour in late 2006.

Biography

Aznavour was born in Paris, the son of Armenian immigrants Michael Aznavourian and Knar Bagdasarian[2]. His artistic parents introduced him to the world of theatre at an early age. He is the greatest singer that there ever was. He has sold more records than the Beatles and Elvis Presley put together.

He began to perform when he was nine and soon took the stage name Aznavour. His big break came when the singer Édith Piaf heard him sing and arranged to take him with her on tour in France and to the United States.

File:Aznavour-statue.jpg
Charles Aznavour Statue in Gyumri, Armenia.

Often described as the "Frank Sinatra of France", Aznavour sings mostly about love. He has written musicals and about a thousand songs, made more than one hundred records, and appeared in sixty movies, including Shoot the Piano Player, The Tin Drum and Ararat. Aznavour sings in many languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Armenian, Portuguese), which has helped him perform at Carnegie Hall and other major venues around the world. He also recorded at least one song from the 18th century poet Sayat Nova, in Armenian. Que C'est Triste Venise, sung in French, Italian (Com'è Triste Venezia), Spanish (Venecia Sin Ti), English (How Sad Venice Can Be), and German (Venedig im Grau), is one of Aznavour's most famous polylingual songs.

In the 1970s Aznavour became a major success in the United Kingdom where his song "She" went to Number One in the charts. His other well-known song in the UK was "Dance in the Old Fashioned Way".

An admirer of Quebec, where he played in Montreal cabarets before becoming famous, he has helped the career of Quebec singer-songwriter Lynda Lemay in France, and has a house in Montreal.

Since the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, Aznavour has been helping the country through his charity, Aznavour for Armenia. Together with his brother in-law and co-author Georges Garvarentz he writes the song "Pour toi Armenie", which topped the charts for 13 weeks. There is a square named after him in central Yerevan on Abovian Street. In 1995 Charles Aznavour was appointed an Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO. Aznavour is a member of the Armenia Fund International Board of Trustees. The organization has rendered more than $150 million in humanitarian aid and infrastructure development assistance to Armenia since 1992. Charles Aznavour was appointed as "Officier" (Officer) of the Légion d'honneur in 1997.

In 1998, Charles Aznavour was chosen as Entertainer of the Century by CNN and users of Time Online from around the globe. Aznavour was recognized as the century's outstanding performer, with nearly 18% of the total vote, edging out Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. After Frank Sinatra's death, Charles Aznavour is the last of these "Greats". According to an Internet poll recently undertaken by Time magazine and CNN, Aznavour was chosen as "The Entertainer of the Century", surpassing Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and John Lennon.

Artists who have covered his songs range from Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby to Ray Charles and Liza Minnelli. In 1974, Jack Jones recorded an entire album of Aznavour compositions entitled "Write Me A Love Song, Charlie", re-released on CD in 2006 [1] [2]. Elvis Costello recorded "She" for the film Notting Hill. Tenor Plácido Domingo is a good friend of Aznavour and often performs his hits, most notably Aznavour's version of "Ave Maria" in 1994.

At the start of autumn in 2006, Aznavour initiated his farewell tour, performing in the US and Canada, and earning very positive reviews. For 2007, Aznavour has concerts scheduled all over Japan and Asia. He has repeatedly stated that this farewell tour, health permitting, will likely last beyond 2010. At 83, Aznavour is in excellent health. He still sings in multiple languages and without teleprompters, but typically sticks to just two or three (French and English being the primary two, with Spanish or Italian being the third) during most concerts.[3] On September 30, 2006, Aznavour performed a major concert in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia to start off the cultural season "Arménie mon amie" in France. Armenian president Robert Kocharian and French president Jacques Chirac, at the time on an official visit to Armenia, were in front-row attendance.[4]

File:AznavourArm.jpg
Charles Aznavour in Armenia.

In 2006, 82-year old Aznavour traveled to Cuba, where he, together with Chucho Valdes, recorded his latest album Color Ma Vie, presented at Aznavour's Moscow concert in April 2007. Later, in July of 2007, Aznavour was invited to perform at the Vieilles Charrues Festival, and sang his greatest hits to a thrilled audience.

Film career

Aznavour has had a long and varied parallel career as an actor, appearing in over 60 films. In 1960 Aznavour starred in François Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste, playing a character called Édouard Saroyan. He also put in a critically acclaimed performance in the 1974 movie And Then There Were None. Aznavour had an important supporting role in 1979's The Tin Drum, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980. Aznavour starred in the 2002 movie Ararat playing Edward Saroyan, a movie director.

Awards and recognition

Greatest Hits

(2001 collection tracklist)[7]

Discography

Filmography

  • La Guerre des gosses (1936) — Extra
  • Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (1938) (uncredited) — Un élève
  • Adieu chérie (1946) (as Aznavour) — Le duettiste
  • Entrez dans la danse (1948)
  • Une gosse sensass' (1957) — Le chanteur
  • Paris Music Hall (1957) — Charles
  • La Tête contre les murs (1959) — Heurtevent
  • Les Dragueurs (1959) — Joseph Bouvier
  • Pourquoi viens-tu si tard? (1959) — Un danseur
  • Oh! Qué mambo (1959) (uncredited) — Un spectateur au cabaret
  • Le Testament d'Orphée, ou ne me demandez pas pourquoi! (1960) (uncredited) — The Curious Man
  • Un taxi pour Tobrouk (1960) — Samuel Goldmann
  • Le Passage du Rhin (1960) — Roger
  • Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) — Charlie Kohler/Édouard Saroyan
  • Gosse de Paris (1961)
  • Les Lions sont lâchés (1961) — Charles, un convive de Marie-Laure
  • Esame di guida - tempo di Roma (1962) — Marcello
  • Horace 62 (1962) — Horace Fabiani
  • Le Diable et les dix commandements (1962) — Denis Mayeux (episode "Homicide point ne seras")
  • Les Quatre vérités (1962) — Charles
  • Les Vierges (1963) — Berthet
  • Le Rat d'Amérique (1963) — Charles
  • Thomas l'imposteur (1964)
  • Alta infedeltà (1964) — Giulio (segment "Peccato nel Pommerigio")
  • La Métamorphose des cloportes (1965) — Edmond
  • Le Facteur s'en va-t-en guerre (1966) — Thibon
  • Paris au mois d'août (1966) — Henri Plantin
  • Caroline chérie (1968) — Postillon
  • Candy (1968) — Hunchback juggler
  • Le Temps des loups (1969) — Inspector
  • The Adventurers (1970) — Marcel Campion
  • L'Amour (1970) — Le présentateur
  • The Games (1970) — Pavel Vendek
  • The Selfish Giant (1971) — Narrator (French version)
  • Un beau monstre (1971) — Inspector Leroy
  • Part des lions (1971) — Éric Chambon
  • Les Intrus (1972) — Charles Bernard
  • The Blockhouse (1973) — Visconti
  • Ein Unbekannter rechnet ab (1974) — Michel Raven
  • Sky Riders (1976) — Insp. Nikolidis
  • Folies bourgeoises (1976) — Dr. Lartigue
  • Die Blechtrommel (1979) — Sigismund Markus
  • Ciao, les mecs (1979) — L'amnésique
  • Der Zauberberg Der (1982) — Naphta
  • Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David? (1982) — Léon, le père de David
  • Les Fantômes du chapelier (1982) — Kachoudas
  • Une jeunesse (1983) — Bellun
  • Viva la vie! (1984) — Édouard Takvorian
  • Yiddish Connection (1986) — Aaron Rapoport
  • Mangeclous (1988) — Jérémie
  • Il Maestro (1989) — Romualdi
  • Armenia (1989)
  • Les Années campagne (1992) — Le grand-père/Grandfather
  • Pondichéry, dernier comptoir des Indes (1997) — Léo Bauman
  • Le Comédien (1997) — Monsieur Maillard
  • Laguna (2001)
  • Truth About Charlie (2002) — Himself
  • Ararat (2002) — Edward Saroyan
  • Ennemis publics (2005)
  • Mon colonel (2006) — Père Rossi

Videos/DVDs about Charles Aznavour

  • (Charles Aznavour Armenia 1989) (Armenfilm) 1989 color 10min. 35mm.Director Levon Mkrtchyan. The film is about the humanitarian aid that Charles Aznavour, a famous French singer of Armenian origin, brought to Armenia after the Spitak earthquake in 1988.

Trivia

Aznavour has always been conscious of his diminutive height, standing at only 5'3" (160 cm). Because of this, however, he has developed tremendous stage presence and command.

Aznavour's nickname is Charles Aznavoice ('as no voice), used both by critics and affectionately by some fans.

Aznavour's voice is in the tenor range, but generally sticks to baritone.

Aznavour's name was used as the basis for the name of the character Char Aznable by Yoshiyuki Tomino in his anime mecha series, Mobile Suit Gundam.

See also

References

  1. ^ Thomas, Rebecca (April 10, 2001). "Aznavour leaves on high note". BBC News. Aznavour has sold more than 100 million records... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Official biography
  3. ^ Riding, Alan (September 18, 2006). "At 82, Charles Aznavour Is Singing a Farewell That Could Last for Years". The New York Times. There are some people who grow old and others who just add years. I have added years, but I am not yet old... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Charles Aznavour Biography, RFI Musique, February 2007
  5. ^ Delegation of Armenia to UNESCO
  6. ^ Charles Aznavour and Kirk Kerkorian National Heroes of Armenia
  7. ^ Greatest Hits And More (50 years d Amour) collection on ALLOFMP3

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Live performances


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