Merd'v'là l'hiver: Complaintes des gens de rue

It was inevitable that the abundant discography of Les Lunaisiens would one day turn its attention to the Complainte des rues, a ‘lament’ that tells the dark and tragic story of the wretched nobodies of society who can only protest their misery and hunger! Merd’ v’là l’hiver!: these are the grim opening words of Les Soliloques du pauvre by the poet Jehan Rictus (1867-1933), a work which Arnaud Marzorati has made the focus of a programme whose repertory deals with homeless people, the working poor, prostitutes and abandoned children. For nothing was worse for street singers than the approach of wintry weather; already constantly chased away, they would have to sing their songs in taverns or seedy cafés, where they were not always welcome . . . These sombre tableaux constitute an essential part of the heritage of French chanson. But such laments become truly memorable thanks to the power of their performers; the greatest female artistes reigned supreme, each in her own era, by distilling misery, rage and love – Damia, Fréhel, and of course Édith Piaf. Stéphanie d’Oustrac, an incomparable interpreter of Bizet’s Carmen, takes on as to the manner born this new role as an insolent woman of the people.