MONTECARLOTIMES’ TRIBUTE TO THE GREAT ARTIST CHARLES AZNAVOUR
by Eleonora Pedron MONACO. Dear Followers, we must inform you that the Charles Aznavour’s concert For me formidable!, scheduled at the Grimaldi Forum on June 5, 2018, has been cancelled. In fact, the famous artist has not recovered in time of his fracture of the arm. On May 12, Charles Aznavour fell and broke his humerus. As he had to keep the splint longer than expected, he was not able to ensure his concert in the Principality. The doctors have prescribed an extra stop that prevents him from going on tour this summer. Three dates are thus canceled, including that of Monaco. This concert will not be postponed. Tickets are refundable at the points of sale where they were purchased. However, Charles Aznavour will be back on stage on June 30 in London. Aznavour is the most celebrated French artist in the world by international performers such as: Elton John, Bob Dylan, Celine Dion, Liza Minnelli, Ray Charles and many others … Consecrated by CNN in 1998 “greatest artist of the century Charles Aznavour is the author of more than 1000 songs, an actor in more than 80 films, and has traveled the world performing on the biggest stages of more than 94 countries. Singer, songwriter, actor and diplomat, Charles Aznavour was born in Paris on May 22, 1924, by Micha Aznavourian, an Armenian immigrant from today’s Georgia and Knar Baghdassarian, also an immigrant from Smyrna. Survivors of the 1922 Armenians’ genocide, they manage to reach Paris and, thanks to some money left to Knar by her wealthy parents, she and her amateur bariton husband open a cabaret. There, Micha is singing, Knar is acting and little Charles, since only nine years old, takes the stage name of Aznavour. He makes his apprenticeship reciting and singing in the Parisian theaters until, in 1946, Edith Piaf notices the sound quality of his voice. The great singer brings Charles on tour in France, Canada and United States. The success of Aznavour strengthened in the sixties with unforgettable songs, such as “Tu t ‘laisses aller” (1960), top in France for three weeks, “Il faut savoir” (1961), top for 15 weeks, continuing with “La mamma” (1963), “Et Pourtant”, top for five weeks, “For Me Formidable” (1964) and “Que c’est triste Venise” (1964), “La Bohème” (1965), which in 1966 is top one for three weeks, and finally “Désormais” (1969).
Since the seventies he extends his success internationally, facilitated by the fact of being able to sing in seven languages. He treading the stage of all the major theaters in the world, and duets with international stars such as Nana Mouskouri, Liza Minnelli, Sumiva Moreno, Compay Segundo, Céline Dion and, in Italy, with Mia Martini and Laura Pausini. Since the terrible earthquake that devastated Armenia in 1988, Charles Aznavour supports his country of origin, with its “Aznavour pour l’Arménie” Foundation. His song “Pour toi Arménie” (1989), recorded together with more than eighty artists, is immediately hit-parade. Since 2001, as a token of thanks for the funds raised to send solidarity aid, his name is given to a square in the center of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, and Gyumri, the Armenian city most devastated by the earthquake of 88, he dedicates a statue to him. In 1997, he was appointed officer of the French Légion d’honneur and in 2004, commander, for merit to the French Republic. In the 2000s, his success shows no signs of diminishing on the world stage and in 2002 he is also the protagonist of his most personal and intimate film, entitled “Ararat”, by Atom Egoyan, which deals with the Armenian genocide. In 2006, on September 30, Charles Aznavour sang in front of 100,000 spectators in Yerevan, on the occasion of the opening of the Armenian Year in France, in the presence of French President Jacques Chirac and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kotcharian. Now more than eighty years old, during the 2007-2010 tour through Japan, Europe, Asia, Oceania and South America, he announces that with this series of concerts he plans to bid farewell to the scenes. But an iron health supports him, and the singer will still do dozens of tours around the world, receiving, during the 25th edition of the “Victoires de la musique”, a “Victoire d’honneur” to his career. Then, at the age of 90 in May 2014, there was a world tour, with a concert also at the Opera of Yerevan in Armenia, in the presence of the Armenian president Serge Sargsian, and the French president, François Hollande. Finally, in November 2015, at the age of 91, he received an honorary NRJ Music Awards from the hands of Sting. Meanwhile, on December 26, 2008, the Armenian president, Serge Sargsian, conferred on the French singer Armenian honorary citizenship and, in February 2009, Aznavour accepted the position of ambassador of Armenia in Switzerland, where he resides, presenting his letter credit to Hans-Rudolf Merz, president of the Swiss Confederation. Charles Aznavour is also Permanent Representative of Armenia at the UN in Geneva, with a letter of credit presented to Sergueï Ordjonikidze, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva. A multifaceted artist, Aznavour is a singer-songwriter, singer, actor and also a writer. According to a French poll, in 2007 he is now considered one of the most prestigious personalities of the country, and he is successfully published his collection of novels entitled “Mon père, ce géant” (My father, a giant), where Aznavour approaches familiar and delicate themes, insisting on the importance of the parental role, which is followed by his autobiography, “À voix basse” (Sottovoce) where he confides to the readers the different moments of his career and his private life. On September 28, 2011, the artist, who is performing at the Olympia in Paris, offers an evening for the benefit of her Foundation. Aznavour has written more than a thousand songs that speak of love of nostalgia, of sensuality – remember that in 1965 his song “Après l’amour” (After Love) was radiated by the transmissions for outrage to modesty … -, travel , of time that passes, of memories.
The song of Aznavour also knows how to be in the forefront for civil rights, as when, in 1972, he approached without and but without the theme of homosexuality, with “Comme ils disent”. He has always had the courage to declare his opinions by singing, as when he commits against the Armenian genocide with “Ils sont tombés”, or when he throws himself against the Soviet Nomenklatura in “Camarade”, and when he denounces the traumas of the wars composing “Les enfants de la guerre”. Now that Aznavour has a diplomatic role, he closely monitors current events, makes statements, talks to the powerful people of the earth and tries to get concrete answers from them. For example, he asked two presidents to bring in Armenian Muslims in Armenia. “After the massacre of the Christian Armenians, those who managed to arrive in Syria were Islamized, but since they are still Armenians they are not accepted by Islam, nor by Armenia because they are Muslims, and this is a clash. Unfortunately, in Armenia there is no oil and no money moves, which happens in Azerbaijan, which has oil and can spend a lot “. In this regard, he says: “My goal is reconciliation between the two countries, and that the borders between Armenia and Turkey can be reopened, closed since 1992, because Ankara is austere. For this reason, even if I am very requested, I do not go to do shows in Turkey, because they could say “see, now he agrees with us!”. I want to be taken seriously, do not become the pawn of a game, I no longer have the age for it “. Among the anecdotes, interesting for us Italians on Berlusconi, of which he told Corriere in 2014: “As Silvio,” I am a histrion “(title of one of his most beautiful and famous songs” Le cabotin “). Intelligence, power, humor: here are three ways to seduce! I like Berlusconi because he’s crazy and I’ve always loved crazy people “. In several interviews in T, Aznavour makes an appeal to help the Christian and Kurdish communities persecuted in the Middle East, and launches the welcoming proposal in the French villages which, he says, «are emptied, and need to be repopulated». Among his most recent commitments, there is a request to Macron to intervene against the expulsion of foreigners who seek political asylum, a theme that he knows well through family life. This is the thought of Aznavour, in clear contrast with the egocentrism of the various Brexit, Nexit, Fexit and lately Itexit (exit Britannia, exit Nederlands, exit Finland, exit Italy), which threaten the arduous journey of acceptance and integration from part of those who believe in the unity of Europe, despite everything.
