Raquel Bitton
| Raquel Bitton | |
|---|---|
 Poster of Bitton performing in Piaf, Her Story, Her Songs, 2003 | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
December 31, 1949 Marrakesh, Morocco |
| Genres | World, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Sony |
| Website |
www |
Raquel Bitton (born in Marrakesh, Morocco) is a French singer and interpreter of songs by Edith Piaf.
Life and career
As a teenager in 1970, Bitton moved to San Francisco, where she began to work on the songs from the French Age d'Or ('Golden Age'). Her passion for music and song led her to the Edith Piaf songbook.
Bitton's hit show, "Raquel Bitton sings Piaf - her story, her songs" has been performed across North America and sold out at Carnegie Hall[1] Critic Ann Powers, writing in the New York Times, liked Bitton's low-key treatment as she "served her subject by de-emphasizing the pathos in favour of the craft", using "calm narration". Bitton "did well to concentrate on the great singer as a virtuoso rather than a heroine" as the legend was impossible to live up to, but "a bright interpreter like Ms. Bitton certainly can illuminate it", wrote Powers.[2]
The show Piaf: Her story, Her songs was made into a film which won first place at the 25th Classic Telly awards, and received the Special Jury Award for most moving film experience at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. It was released on DVD by Lionsgate Films.[3] Piaf's favorite composers, Michel Rivgauche, Henri Contet and Francis Lai amongst many others have recognized Raquel Bitton as the most extraordinary interpreter of Piaf's extensive repertoire as she was not an imitator but rather a glorious singer standing on her own " There will never be another Edith Piaf, but out of her ashes will come out new voices that she will deeply inspire, and that's what I am deeply inspired..Raquel Bitton".
ABOUT RAQUEL BITTON RECORDINGS:
"Raquel Bitton’s voice is warm and seductive and she has the full measure of Latin rhythms...Rafa Sardina, an 14-time Grammy Award winner, co-produced and engineered the album, and Rhythm of the Heart might put him up to an even dozen. Everything is exactly right, every balance perfect. The overall sound is lush, warm, and seductive, as it must be for this literature, but there is absolutely no lack of detail," says critic Rad Bennett of her latest album.[4]
Critic Barry Singer wrote,[5] "Where singers are concerned, imitation ... is never solely an act of homage, however inspired by admiration."[6] Bitton, Singer continued, "is, to put it mildly, stuck on Edith Piaf", and he lists Bitton's Piaf-focused activities: a radio show; a TV documentary; a play; the scenario for a ballet;[7] and "most decisively, learned to sing very much like her idol".[6] The result is eerie, as Bitton performs with "exacting verisimilitude" and "unmistakable passion", "the requisite fierceness of elocution, fluttery intensity of vibrato, and R's rolled like a flotilla of drunken sailors", and "more than a touch of ghoulishness", wrote Singer.[6] The problem is that in so meticulously recreating Piaf's sound, Bitton "buries most of the 'Little Sparrow's' incandescence, Singer concludes.[6]
Music website Sound Stage Experience wrote,[8] "A MAGNIFICENTLY RECORDED CD "RHYTHM OF THE HEART". Raquel Bitton's voice is warm and seductive and she has the full measure of Latin rhythms so that the undulating dances flow from her in a very natural manner.
Critic Mark S. Tucker of Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange wrote,[8] "Fronting a 20-piece orchestra and an Afro-Cuban band, Bitton strolls through a dozen tangos, boleros, merengues, cha chas, bossas, and more, singing entirely in French and Spanish (the transcriptions and translations of each cut are included in a 19-page booklet: French, Spanish, and English!), Forgive Me a particularly intriguing set of lyrics. Bonjour Tristesse, though, is my sonic pick of the litter. There's something about it, a je ne sais quoi, something that belongs to my parents' generation, something that's since gone missing—no, not in the spoken middle section but in the entablature of the singing itself, that gets to parts of the heart left previously untouched."
Critic L. Pierce Carson of the Napa Register wrote,[8] "...From the beloved bolero of Osvaldo Farres, "Plus Je Vous Aime," to the pulsating bandoneon of "Tango Melodie," from the classic love song, "Tout Bleu," of French composer Andre Hornez to the ultimate payback song, "Il Est Trop Tard," "Rhythm of the Heart" is a gem. All sung in French, the songs are as seductive as they are stirring."
Discography
- I Wish You Love (1994)
- Changes (1996)
- In a Jazzy Mood (1998) with Paul Misraki
- Raquel Bitton sings Edith Piaf (2000)
- Paris Blues (2006)
- Boleros (Sony, 2009 and 2014)
- Dream a Little Dream (2011)
- Rhythm of the Heart (Sony, 2013)
References
- ↑ Wong, Myriem (17 January 2000). "RFI Music". Piaf is born again. rfimusique.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ↑ New York Times - Pop Review "More craft than pathos for the Little Sparrow". Ann Powers. January 17, 2000.
- ↑ "Piaf: Her Story ... Her Songs Starring Raquel Bitton". PR Newswire. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ Bennett, Rad (March 2013). "SoundStage! Xperience | SoundStageXperience.com - Raquel Bitton: "Rhythm of the Heart"". Sound Stage Experience. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ Describing Raquel Bitton Sings Edith Piaf (The Golden Album) (Sparrow Productions RB4271-2)
- 1 2 3 4 Singer, Barry (January 16, 2000). "Barry Singer: New York Times". MUSIC; An Attempt To Recapture The Elusive Piaf Mystique. nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ↑ Kisselgoff, Anna (May 10, 1988). "Ballet: New York Times". Review/Dance; Washington Ballet Adapts French Film Classic. nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- 1 2 3 Describing "Rhythm of the Heart" (2013 Album)