Friday's French music break - Patricia Petibon and Natalie Dessay, " La chanson des jumelles"

Friday's French Music break this week is perhaps an example of what happens when two worlds collide - musically speaking.

It's a remake of " La chanson des jumelles" from Jacques Demy's 1967 musical "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort" which starred real life sisters (although not twins) Catherine Deneuve as Delphine and the late Françoise Dorléac as Solange.

Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac (screenshot from clip of "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort")

In this new version Patricia Petibon (Delphine) and Natalie Dessay (Solange) team up with Michel Legrand, who composed the music for the film (Demy wrote the lyrics) to deliver what is...well a rather disappointing rendition.

Now opera buffs will be familiar with both women as they're well known coloratura sopranos, and there's no doubting the talent of either.

Petibon is highly rated for her performance of French Baroque music and Dessay can and has turned her vocal cords to just about anything and everything operatic. Plus she can act.

Somehow though, the obvious polish and perfection of their voices is ill-suited to what is, after all, a rather light and completely charming song.

Sure, the remake swings seriously as it benefits from Legrand on piano alongside Pierre Boussaguet on bass and François Laizeau on drums (they're excellent).

But the voices just...well...lack the magic of the original version.

Although neither Deneuve nor Dorléac actually sang in the film - they both performed playback to the to recordings of professional singers Anne Germain (Deneuve) and Claude Parent (Dorléac) - the routine was an unforgettable one from the moment when, "out of nowhere", a trumpet sounded the theme of the song.

Judges for yourselves with a compare and contrast.

First up the version from Petibon and Dessay; well sung (it would be unfair to say otherwise) with a superb musical arrangement but lacking pep.

It's a track from the album "Entre elle et lui", due to be released on October 21 and on which Dessay and Legrand revisit some popular classics.

The pair (Dessay and Legrand that is) are also set to play several dates over the next few months, kicking off with Olympia in Paris a week after the album's release.

And then that clip from the film starring Deneuve and Dorléac.

Ségolène Royal - a French fashion icon!

Is that the gnashing of teeth that can be heard at the Elysée palace?

No not from the French president, François Hollande, over the admission by former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac on his blog - of all things - that he had lied about having squirrelled money away in a foreign bank account (and a tidy little sum it was too - €600,000).

http://www.jerome-cahuzac.com/

That would be far too a serious political issue upon which to focus.

Besides it has been covered extensively elsewhere.

As has the fact that Cahuzac apparently informed Hollande of his decision to come clean by SMS (how very 21st century) and speculation over the repercussions for a party seemingly as clueless about a high-ranking member's financial shenanigans as it was when it came to the "trysts" of a certain DSK.

Rather the chopper grinding is probably being emitted from the other half of the first couple, Valérie Trierweiler (who incidentally is still exorcising - sic -  her chosen profession as a "journalist" over at the pages of the weekly (cough, cough) "news"  magazine Paris Match).

What exactly might be "sticking in her craw" (just to go full pelt, idiomatically speaking) you might be wondering.

Well of course it all has to be the latest news from her predecessor as Hollande's Better Half.

You see, that well-informed and cutting edge daily The Guardian has just released a totally objective and thoroughly-researched "Top 50 of the best-dressed over 50s".

And guess who makes it in at number 29...

Ségolène Royal!

"Shoulder-length hair that is youthful, not helmet-like. A jacket and dress in contrast colours. A white shirt with a silk scarf. How do the French make this style look so easy?" is how a svelte Seggers is described to readers of the UK national daily.

All right so Royal might not be up there with the likes of Helen Mirren ("numéro un" or rather "une" apparently) but she's only one of three French women to rank: the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfeld (who might not appreciate being described as "The only woman on Earth who looks a bit like Iggy Pop, but in a good way") is at number three, Catherine Deneuve at number 12, and Emmanuelle Riva at number 14.

But there she is in all her not-so batty Socialist glory ranking alongside He of the big lips and wiggly hips, Mick Jagger.

Way to go Seggers.

Thank goodness the editors didn't see her in her heyday 2008 One Woman Bercy show perhaps. Not her greatest fashion success.


Ségolène Royal au Zénith : Extraits par segolene-royal-videos

Given her newly-acquired trend-setting fashion status, perhaps Royal could help out a floundering government when Hollande decides to have a proper reshuffle.

She could maybe start with a few tips on appropriate hair colouration tips.

After all that excitement, how about some music.

Here's Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera with "Moves like Jagger".



Or Key of Awesome's parody.