“This program of French chansons swims with images and sounds of the streets of Paris: the café, the cabaret, the cherry blossoms in the spring, the smoke billowing from a lazy cigarette.
“Musically the songs spill over with what we Americans hear as a distinctively French sound: the sensuous streamlined melody over the lilt of a waltz. Songs like La Valse à mille temps and Mon manège à moi carouse with the beat the waltz, the hum of accordion and the heat of the Paris dancehall. La Mer speaks of a Frenchman’s deep love and tenderness for the beauty of his country. Ne me quitte pas, Dis quand reviendras-tu?, and Les Feuilles mortes overtake—devastate—with their words of longing, loss, passion and love, and with the fearless and raw quality in which the song texts depict the hard and humdrum lives of the everyday working classes.
“While our program highlights the work of two most legendary chansonniers, Édith Piaf and Jacques Brel, we explore this idea of Paris-Amour in songs of lesser known (to us) French chansonniers of the last century whose work has endured to remind us of la vie parisienne, la vie d’amour.” — Siri Vik
The Shedd Institute presents Siri Vik and Nathalie Fortin in a command performance revisioning of their stunning November 2010 tribute to the art of the French chansonnier. We offer this extended run in a cabaret setting with a bar on the main floor. All seats are reserved. Gold circle tabled seating on the main floor is $32; balcony & rear main rear seating is $24. Youth under 21 are restricted to the balcony and are admitted at $16.