Search - Edith Piaf :: 30th Anniversaire

The best Piaf collection

pm444 | Okemos, MI USA | 07/22/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are many Piaf collections from which to choose, and aside from the big multi-disc set, all of them omit some important songs. This set includes almost all of her best ("Mon Legionnaire" and "Tu es Partout" are not here). EMI also has a single-disc collection with most of the best songs, but it does not include "Les Trois Cloches", which you've got to have. My only real complaint about this set is the booklet, which has no lyrics. Instead, you get a brief biography in French, with a rather shaky English translation. The set includes the English versions of "La Vie en Rose" and "Hymne a l'amour", which pale in comparison to the originals but are interesting nonetheless."

Piaf Tonight!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 10/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This two CD set is not merely a magnificent sampling of Edith Piaf's songs; it is a celebration of her career as one of the greatest female singers the world has ever known or ever will know. The songs include many of her beloved songs recorded by Piaf between 1946 and 1963.



These wonderful French classics by Piaf include "La Vie En Rose;" "Les Trois Cloches;" "Hymne À L'amour;" "Jezebel;" "Padam Padam;" "Autumn Leaves" sung in English; "Milord;" "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien;" and "Les Amants De Paris." There are, of course, many more wonderful songs--all with beautiful musical arrangements--on this two CD set. There are even two unedited songs that show how Piaf worked on a song before it was polished: "Légende" and "Un Dimanche À Londres."



While almost all of the remastering is excellent, a few songs were not done to completion. For example, "Hymne À L'amour" on the first CD is obviously simply recorded from an old 78 rpm record complete with surface noise and scratches; and "L'homme De Berlin" sounds as if someone was holding tissues in front of the microphone in order to create a muffled reproduction of the recording. However, this is a minor disappointment because the rest of the package is so perfect.



The liner notes offer an excellent essay about Piaf's life written in both English and French. There are several photos of Edith Piaf and two of them are colorized for effect. The liner notes also provide songs credits and the year each song was recorded.



Piaf recorded much, much more than these two CDs could ever hope to cover simply because her career spanned so many years; if you like this set I strongly recommend other Piaf CD recordings including her performances at Carnegie Hall in 1956 and 1957. This two CD set is really best viewed as either a thorough introduction to Piaf or as a very good retrospective of her career including most of her greatest songs.



This two CD set is highly recommended for Piaf fans (as if they didn't know that already), fans of French classic vocals and fans of international music. Thank goodness Edith Piaf shared her talents with us while she lived amongst us--fans of the arts are infinitely better off because of Piaf's substantial contributions to the arts.

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Not as good as i thought it would be

traveler | Broken Arrow, oklahoma United States | 01/13/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am going to be the only dissenter here. The choice of songs is excellent, and this is why i bought the CD.However, I think that several of the selected songs must be early versions which were then fine tuned by E. Piaf over the years. I have listened to other CDs and vinyl record where renditions such as Jezebel, and La Foule where much more forceful and on a higher emotional level.A good choice for people who have not heard the later versions of the songs, or those prefer to hear the earlier versions,"