Michel Legrand started out as a musician and songwriter, but later opened up as a singer. The maestro has won the prestigious Oscar three times. He is the recipient of five Grammy and Golden Globe awards.
He is remembered as a film composer. Michel has created musical accompaniments for dozens of legendary films. Musical works for the films "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "Tehran-43" made Michel Legrand famous all over the planet.
He has 800 melodies for 250 films. He gave a little less than a hundred LPs to fans of his work. He was lucky to collaborate with E. Piaf, C. Aznavour, F. Sinatra and L. Minelli.
Childhood and youth
Michel Legrand (Michel Legrand) was born in the heart of France - Paris, in 1932. Despite all the beauty of the city, his childhood was distinguished by dullness and gloom. In his mature years, in one of his interviews, he said that he had the most unpleasant memories of his childhood.
Michel grew up in a creative family. The head of the family composed music, and also directed the orchestra in one of the Parisian variety shows. Mom taught talented children to play the piano.
When Michel was very young, his mother informed the boy that he and his father were divorcing. The woman herself had to raise her children to her feet - her son and daughter Christian.
Mother constantly disappeared at work to provide for offspring. Michel became independent early. He tried to occupy himself in order to somehow distract himself from the problems that had piled up. Since there were few toys in the house, the only entertainment available was playing the piano. Michel chose the melodies on his own.
On weekends, Michelle and Christian were raised by their grandfather. In one of the interviews, the composer remembered a relative. He called him an extremely emotional man. On Sundays, Michel, together with his grandfather, visited the Parisian temple. They also had a tradition - together they enjoyed classical pieces played by an old gramophone. In the collection of a relative there was an impressive number of records.
Soon his dream came true - a gifted guy entered the conservatory. He found himself in a circle of like-minded people, which undoubtedly had a positive effect on the formation of his personality. He graduated with honors from an educational institution.
The creative path of a musician
His creative path began with the fact that he accompanied Maurice Chevalier himself. Thanks to Maurice, the young maestro traveled half the world. His musical career began in the United States of America. In the USA, he recorded his debut LP, which was called "I love Paris".
The album was led by instrumental compositions by Michel Legrand. In the mid-50s of the last century, the album took the lead in the US chart. The warm reception of music lovers inspired the talented composer and musician.
At the end of the 50s, he positioned himself as a jazz performer. His repertoire consisted of brilliant compositions by Django Reinhard and Bix Beiderbeck. Then he recorded the first disc, which was saturated with the best jazz compositions. The album, or rather its "stuffing", he got into the heart of music lovers. At that time, the society was "fanate" from jazz works. At the end of the 50s, he wrote songs for films for the first time.
In 63, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg appeared on the screens. The strengths of the film are the brilliant performance of Catherine Deneuve and the catchy works of Michel Legrand. By the way, all the songs presented in this film and the dubbing belong to the composer's sister, Christian Legrand.
A year later, the musical was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The musical work "Autumn Sadness" from the "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" has grown to the status of a hit. Musicians love to perform composition on different instruments. But, the atmosphere of that time is best conveyed by the saxophone.
At the beginning of the composer's biography, it was already indicated that the brilliant composer held the Oscar three times. At the end of the 60s, he received a statuette for writing a wonderful piece of music for the film The Thomas Crown Affair. He received several more awards for the soundtrack to the film "Summer of 42", and the composition for the Barbra Streisand musical tape "Yentl", which was broadcast on large screens in the mid-80s.
Singing career as an artist
Michel Legrand (Michel Legrand) wrote several hundred soundtracks for films of various genres, and then sang himself. Michel said that he decided to try his hand at something new, because he was tired of being perceived solely as a film composer.
His vocals can not be called brilliant. Despite this, the fans supported their idol. His composition "The Mills of My Heart" was taken into the repertoire by many singers. For example, the track is included in the repertoire of Mark Tishman and Tamara Gverdtsiteli.
In the early 90s, the presentation of the debut LP of the singer took place. We are talking about the collection "Dingo".
The presented work brought Michelle a Grammy. In 1991, at Olympia, the maestro performed on the same stage with Tamara Gverdtsiteli.
More than 10 years will pass, and Legrand will record a collection with the brilliant opera diva Natalie Desse. The album reached gold status in its native country. Over 50 copies of the presented collection were sold in France.
He toured a lot. The musician has repeatedly visited Japan, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Russia. Almost until the end of his days, he wrote compositions for theatrical productions and ballet.
Details of the personal life of maestro Michel Legrand
Masha Meril - became the main woman in the life of a brilliant composer. The couple met in the 64th year. Michel and Masha were part of the French delegation to the film festival in Brazil.
Michel immediately took a liking to Merrill. He spotted her on one of the Brazilian beaches. The composer admitted that initially platonic feelings arose between them. At the time of his acquaintance with the actress, he was married. At home, the official wife of Christie and two children were waiting for him. Meryl also had a serious relationship. The woman was about to get married.
After some time, Michel and Masha met again. At that time, the composer managed to divorce several times. He had children from previous marriages. Almost all Legrand's children chose a creative profession for themselves.
In 2013, Michel visited the local theater. Meryl was involved in the play he got to. A year later they got married and never parted again.
The last years of Michel Legrand's life
In 2017, he appeared at the Palaces of St. Petersburg festival. On the eve of his trip to Russia, the composer celebrated a significant anniversary - he turned 85 years old.
On January 26, 2019, it became known that he died in Paris. The cause of death was not named.
