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Jane Birkin 'Arabesque' Playhouse Sat 11 June When Serge Gainsbourg died in Paris in 1991, flags were flown at half-mast in respect. As Chirac stated, "We have lost our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire." However as former partner and muse Jane Birkin stated during the show, it has taken a younger generation of English speaking fans like Johnny Depp and Beck to appreciate his true worth. During the past three years Birkin has toured the world with 'Arabesque' - bringing Serge's poetic world to life in a cross cultural musical fusion that brings together a Jewish/French composer, an English chanteuse and an Algerian trio of musicians. Birkin has been very brave in bringing a show to Adelaide that focuses so heavily on the aesthetic poeticism of Gainsbourg's dense French lyrics. But it was a difficult battle won by Birkin's force of personality and sheer presence. In a programme that focused upon the romantic bittersweet lyrics and melodies, an understanding of his lyrics became superfluous. Even in the recitations of lyrics as poetry such as in La Chanson de Prevert were a success, but it was the successful hybridization of the songs within an Arabic context that charmed and convinced the capacity audience of the power of Gainsbourg's work. Highlights included the ruminative take on Francoise Hardy's Comment Te Dire Adieu and the melancholic waltz Valse de Melody, which forms the heart to Gainsbourg's 1970 masterpiece 'L'Histoire de Melody Nelson' as well as a selection of songs written specifically for Jane B. - more often than not after the demise of their domestic relationship. However, most touching of all, was the second encore - a tremulous a cappella account of the anthem-like La Javanaise - written originally for the Left Bank pin up Juliette Greco.  |
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