The real stars of this album are quite possibly Vladimir Cosma’s audience! These undying fans of film music, curious beings, endearing characters (if a little obsolete) who live on another planet and lug their bags packed with brand new vinyls around from concert to concert, hoping to get the Master’s autograph during an endless signing session…
This audience is particularly responsive, and their applauds in the middle of certain pieces seem to take on the role of a percussion instrument! They’re a faithful crowd who have followed Cosma’s staggering career for five decades, thanks to the films of Gérard Oury (L’As des as, Le Schpountz, La Soif de l’or, Le coup du parapluie…) Yves Robert (Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire, Salut l’Artiste, Nous irons tous au paradis, Un éléphant ça trompe énormément…), Francis Veber (Le Dîner de cons, La Chèvre, Le Jaguar…) among others. An audience that is surprisingly eclectic, representing all forms of French society: from the bourgeoise fans of the credit music for L’Amour en héritage, to the inter-generational fans of Louis de Funès (L’Aile ou la cuisse, Rabbi Jacob), not forgetting the former teenagers, now in their forties, who probably first experienced love with the compositions Reality or Your Eyes.
This live album finally bears witness to the electric atmosphere of Vladimir Cosma’s 2016-17 tour and the National Symphony Orchestra of Romania, his birth country. The tour started in the Palais de Congrès in Paris before heading for Geneva, Lyon, Lille and Rouen… The composer was surrounded by a group of sensational solo artists, such as Richard Sanderson and his angelic voice (La Boum), the wonderful cymbalum player Marius Preda, Greg Zlap and his magical harmonicas, a particularly energetic half-traditional half-jazz group, and the classical violinist Amander Favier (for the Concerto de Berlin). In the rich introduction text to the album, Vladimir Cosma explains how he breathes new life into his compositions through artistic orchestrations, arrangements that are sometimes explosive, unbelievable even - and in truth with a consummate art of musical writing.
As well as the hits, this album includes some curiosities: a surreal version of the famous Destinée where Guy Marchand is replaced by a children’s choir! Generally speaking, it’s the mixture (that at certain points takes the form of a joyous incongruity) which prevails Cosma’s live touch, which makes it a sort of contemporary equivalent of the Concerts Salade that Jean Wiener brought to Paris in the 1920s. Today, we would probably call it cross-over music, where pop meets classical, jazz and traditional music.
Finally, the film lovers who admired the late Jean Rochefort will certainly shed a tear: no less than four films in which the elegant moustached actor had played in were selected by the composer for this tour. © NM/Qobuz