The French government's love for European affairs

Guess how many ministers France has had for European affairs over the past decade.

Go on guess.

Give up?

The magic figure is 11 after the appointment on Monday of Thierry Repentin to the job.

Thierry Repentin
(screenshot TSI TV interview, February 2012)

All right so he had to step into the shoes of his predecessor Bernard Cazeneuve who was promoted to the post of budget minister in a mini-reshuffle following Jérôme Cahuzac's resignation after being placed under formal investigation for tax fraud and money laundering (now there's a suprise, a government minister accused of alleged financial impropriety, but that's another story)

But Repentin's er..."elevation" to the job, is surely very telling of consecutive French governments' attitude to the position.

Just look at the list of those who've been where Repentin is about "to boldly go" and how long they've spent in a post which, given the  nature and complexity of "Brussels" cannot be an easy one to grasp.

Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres - just over one month in 2002, Noëlle Lenoir - almost two years, Claudie Haigneré - 15 months, Catherine Colonna - just under two years, Jean-Pierre Jouyet - just over one-and-a-half years, Bruno Le Maire - six months, Pierre Lellouche - just under one-and-a-half years, Laurent Wauquiez - seven months, Jean Leonetti - 11 months, Bernard Cazeneuve - 10 months and Thierry Repentin - ?

Crikey, not even Britain with its somewhat ambivalent approach to European affairs has had such a high turnover rate in the same period - eight in the past decade.

It surely indicates one of two things (or both at the same time perhaps); firstly that the ministry doesn't really count for much and the job isn't really important and secondly France doesn't give European affairs much priority.

The best that can perhaps be said is the it's "only" a junior ministry and the top job (under whose umbrella it comes) of foreign minister over the same period has been slightly less...er...volatile.

There again given the nature of French politics and the tendency of successive presidents to take over the reins when necessary, the job of foreign minister has also been something of a musical chairs with seven politicians, including the incumbent Laurent Fabius, holding the post.

So how long will Repentin last as minister for European affairs? Well on past form around 13 months - but don't hold your breath.

Friday's French music break - Vigon Bamy Jay, "Feelings"

Take a couple of old geezers who've both had long careers but not ones that have seen them hit the headlines perhaps as much as they deserved, mix together with a former member of a now defunct television talent show winning group and allow them to sing one of the most excruciatingly sentimental songs ever and welcome to Friday's French music break, "Feelings".

The trio currently wooing French airwaves with their rendition of the song are
Vigon Bamy Jay.

Vigon (right) Bamy (left) Jay (seated) - screenshot from official video

It's the first track to be released from their album "Les Soul men" and most definitely rates high on the barf value: not so much for their talent - which all three undeniably have - but more for the choice of a song which over the years has surely come to symbolise schmaltz.

Vigon (Abdelghafour Mouhsine) is a Moroccan rhythm and blues singer who came to the wider public's attention in 2012 during the first edition of The Voice.

The sprightly 67-year-old has a long musical pedigree as does another member of the trio  Gaudeloupe-born Érick Bamy -  another singer in his 60s.

Bamy, a former backing singer to Johnny Hallyday, had his "big break" in another television programme last year, the French version of the "Got talent" show imaginatively entitled "La France a un incroyable talent".
And it was yet another talent show which launched the career of the third member of the trio, Jay Kani.

He was a member of the R'n'B group Poetic Lover which won "Graines de star" back in 1997, had a string of hit singles and a best-selling album "Amants poétiques" a year later but eventually disbanded in 2000.

With voices that have an individual quality and a pedigree in R'n'B and soul, it's a shame the three have chosen to release yet another version of a song which became an international hit for Brazilian one-hit wonder Morris Albert back in 1975 and has been covered by just about anybody and everybody over the years.

And that includes a version by Israeli singer Mike Brant who brought the song "back to France" in a manner of speaking the same year Albert was having a hit with it everywhere else in English.

Brant released "Dis lui", which you'll notice is also the refrain used in the Vigon Bamy Jay recording.

At this point you might be asking how come "back to France"?

Well the person responsible for the melody in the first place was French songwriter Louis "Loulou" Gasté who, back in 1988, successfully sued Albert for copyright infringement of the his 1957 song "Pour toi" and was officially recognised as "the sole creator of the song".

Anyway, Vigon Bamy Jay are giving a private concert in Paris on March 13 and the album "Les Soul men" contains covers of much more worthwhile songs which should show off their individual and collective talents better including "Sitting on the dock of the bay", "Ain't no sunshine" and "Unchained melody".

It's just a pity they chose to release "Feelings" as the first single.

But judge for yourselves and maybe visit their official website for more information and updates.

Rossini's "La Cenerentola" in Paris - is it second helpings or leftovers?

If you like your opera served up in easy to digest portions, then you probably can't beat Gioachino Rossini.

Arguably his best known works are "Il barbiere di Siviglia" and  "La Cenerentola", both of which have become staples at opera houses around the world.

And right now in Paris it's "La Cenerentola" which is back for the second time this season at the Palais Garnier.

A different line up from the first "helping" at the end of last year (all right enough already of the food references) but well worth seeing if only for the undeniable architectural opulence of the Palais Garnier and that wonderful Marc Chagall painted ceiling.

Palais Garnier, Marc Chagall painted ceiling

Oops. This review is supposed to be of the opera, not the setting.

But it's difficult not be impressed by the Palais Garnier, especially when the performance you're watching and listening to doesn't live up to your expectations.

And so it was with "La Cenerentola", which is a shame really as from the opening chords of the overture you know you're going to be in for something special as the music is a "light and energetic" prelude to what is to follow.

As with much opera, the plot of La Cenerentola" (libretto Jacopo Ferretti) is pretty pants.

It's Rossini's Cinderella without the "supernatural" flavour of Charles Perrault's original "Cendrillon" (no Fairy Godmothers or glass slippers) but retaining the moralising of good triumphing over evil.

The Orchestre de l’Opera National de Paris, under conductor Riccardo Frizza, took some stick earlier on in the season but quite frankly was more than up to the job.

The underperformers were rather the singers.

The great overacting (yes, opera singers can now act in spite of clichés that might abound, and besides it rather a prerequisite for a successful Rossini performance) was as hammed-up as warranted but it was accompanied by some - at times - disappointing singing.

The chorus was wonderful and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's production - even though it's more than 40 years old - has stood the test of time.

But both lead voices, Italian tenor Antonino Siragusa as Don Ramiro and Italian mezzo soprano Serena Malfi as Angelina, were sometimes lost and submerged by the orchestra.

And they couldn't always manage the elaborate nature of the coloratura without resorting to belting out the high notes at unnecessarily full volume.

They were good but not exceptional.

Missing was the subtlety of a truly great performance such as the one Cecilia Bartoli gave in the role of Angelina at New York's Metropolitan opera in 1997.

Ah. Memories!



Still, the setting is magnificent (if you don't know the Palais Garnier, try doing an Internet image search - it's well worth it) and "La Cenerentola" remains a real delight and continues its run at the Palais Garnier until the end of March.

Palais Garnier (from Wikipedia)