2005_08_01_archive

Ooh la la!

Back from Nice, which lived up to its name. Didn't get much

proof-reading done...

Speaking of France, now I'm reading up about Sacha Guitry, for reasons

which I'll explain in due course. I'd be very interested to hear from

anyone who knows anything more about the following: it seems that this

'French Noel Coward' (should one add 'heterosexual French Noel

Coward'?!?) wrote a number of 'comedies musicales' with Andre

Messager, the conductor, opera house director and much-underrated

composer who as a youth shared a flat with my beloved Monsieur Gabriel

in Paris - they'd been students together at the Niedermeyer School and

later joined forces to write the most glorious piano duet skit on

Wagner's Ring Cycle entitled 'Souvernirs de Bayreuth' (hear it and die

laughing!).

One of Messager's last works was a comedy, with Guitry's words,

entitled 'Deburau'. It is dedicated to the memory of Gabriel Faure.

When I came across a reference to this, I pulled up short: Deburau was

the surname of the hero of 'Les Enfants du Paradis', my favourite film

EVER. And Messager's 'comedy' is dedicated to the memory of my

favourite composer?!? In 'Les Enfants du Paradis' - made in the

forties, during the war - the 19th-century genius mime actor Baptiste

Deburau is played by Jean-Louis Barrault and the free-spirited woman

he loves, Garance 'comme la fleur', by Arletty.

It seems a film was made of Guitry's comedy 'Deburau' in 1951, using

Messager's music (sadly it seems it's now not available on video or

DVD). An outline of ir that I found on the internet tells me that we

are indeed talking about the same Deburau as 'Les enfants' - but the

woman that Deburau loves is none other than La Dame aux Camelias,

Marie Duplessis. (Camelias - comme la fleur???)

I know woefully little about Guitry, though now I've ordered some

books (including a translation of 'Deburau', which is on its way from

the States). What I'd like to know is: a) Did Guitry's play spark the

idea for 'Les Enfants du Paradis'? It seems that he knew both

Jean-Louis Barrault and Arletty quite well... b) Why was Messager's

version dedicated to Faure's memory? Was it merely that Faure had

recently died (1924) and this happened to be the next thing that his

old friend wrote? Or was there more to it than that? Had Faure had any

particular interest in Deburau, the Funambules theatre, the story...?

Could the pair of them perhaps have gone to the Funambules and seen

the real Deburau together?!?

This kind of thing ZAPS me. Here's the subject of a film that changed