lOn January 23, 1951, Michel Droit did not mince his words when the world : this Charles Aznavour has no future on stage. He “he writes excellent songs but performs them poorly”, says the critic, who saw it during a variety show on television. The already prolific composer would have no presence or voice. Pity for those who have already seen it… This first appearance of the singer in the newspaper sounds like a last one, like the burial on frozen paper of a career that was stillborn. Furthermore, the future academic’s peremptory judgment was widely shared in his time. This is what the biographical film dedicated to the singer, which premieres on October 23, tells us today. Mr. Aznavour, directed by Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade. The film depicts the artist’s long and desperate struggle for recognition.
Still in the shadow of Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour reappears in the columns of World, news section, August 17, 1951. He is in the singer’s car that leaves the road in the direction of Tarascón and falls into a ravine. The star escapes with sunken ribs. He who tries in vain to burn the tables presents himself as “the composer Aznavour”. In short, a music hall stowaway. He’s still a simple composer, this time. i hate sundays, “performed by Juliette Grecia” (sic) who returned on August 29, 1951.
He was still frozen in this role on May 17, 1955, when Claude Sarraute praised Patachou at the Olympia: he was presented as the author of Because. Another supporter of the song is also cited, an artist who fights like him to make his voice heard: Georges Brassens. On October 25 of the same year, Claude Sarraute rented Aznavour again (“big winner tonight”), but this time as the author of Gilbert Bécaud.
At least she likes the songs she writes for others. Much less the theater critic Robert Kemp, who murdered him on December 19, 1957 for a work that included pieces of his creation. «The lyrics of Mr. Aznavour turns into slurred, lugubrious chants, without emotion or meaning, sick complaints, nausea…”
In 1958, the voice of his generation.
On July 14, 1958, he was, and still is, desperately, “the composer Charles Aznavour”, even when the world reports on his divorce process with his second wife, Evelyne Pessis. It was not until October 10, 1958 that recognition of the man of the stage finally came, under the pen of Claude Sarraute. The article is titled: “Who is Aznavour? » She answers the question from the introduction: “Aznavour is the most important thing since war, the last, in the field of song. Except for Brassens, obviously. »
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