Celebrity Biographies
michel legrand
Winner of three Oscars, the composer of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” is considered one of the greats of film music of all time, and a prodigious jazz pianist. Michel Legrand died on January 26, 2019, at the age of 86, in his Parisian residence, accompanied by his wife, actress Macha Meril.
Born on February 24, 1932, Michel Legrand was the son of the popular French musician Raymond Legrand. A child prodigy, at the age of 10 he entered the French capital’s conservatory to study piano and composition. “There I discovered my world, and people who spoke my language”. Later he became a pupil of Nadia Boulanger, considered the most important music educator of all time. “It was magnificent, but at the same time terrible, because it demanded a lot,” he recalled in an interview. “But when I finished I realized that he was ready for anything, whether it was to be a classical or jazz pianist, or a composer of classical music or soundtracks. I decided I didn’t have to choose.”
So he started a career in which he played all possible sticks. After the success of his first album, “I Love Paris”, she was paired with several of the most renowned jazz artists, such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane. He composed his first feature film soundtrack for the comedy The Man with the Tricycle , by Jacques Pinoteau , after which he became the most prominent musician of the Nouvelle Vague, working with Agnès Varda ( Cleo from 5 to 7 ), Jean- Luc Godard ( A woman is a woman , Band apart ) and especially with Jacques Demy , with whom he did his most personal and outstanding work.
They began their fruitful association with Lola , the director’s first opera, followed by The Bay of Angels , although their third joint work, Los Umbrellas de Cherbourg , is best known , where the unforgettable songs are made up of phrases that seem like everyday dialogues. For this work, Michel Legrand earned three Oscar nominations, for song (“Je t’attendrai), original music, and musical treatment. The film had a huge influence on the later American film La La Land .
Both returned to the musical genre in the excellent Les Demoiselles de Rochefort , and later Legrand embarked on the adventure of working for Hollywood, with titles such as How to Save a Marriage , a comedy at the service of Dean Martin , or the thriller Zebra Polar Station . The song “The Windmills Of Your Mind,” from the soundtrack of Norman Jewison ‘s The Thomas Crown Affair , earned him his first statuette, in 1969, and his only Golden Globe. Two more Oscars for Best Band followed. sound, by Verano del 42 , and by Yentl . “An Oscar doesn’t make you a better or worse composer. Your strengths and weaknesses don’t change,” he explained.
He also took the service of Joseph Losey ( The Messenger ), Richard Lester ( The Three Musketeers ), Clint Eastwood ( Spring Into Autumn ), and Robert Altman ( Prêt-à-porter ). He composed the score for Fraud for Orson Welles , and later The Other Side of the Wind , released due to legal problems decades after the death of the great filmmaker, which was the last work of Michel Legrand .
The musician was active until the end, as his musical “Donkey Skin” triumphs on the Parisian billboard. He was scheduled to perform at the Malaga Jazz Festival last November, but the concert was canceled due to illness.