Bonjour Tristesse, Gervaise, Christine

Conductors : Lambert Williamson, Jacques Météhen

Release : January 5, 2010

Classical composer Georges Auric made also his name in the cinematic world in Europe and America as well, especially in the forties and the fifties. He notably worked with Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast ), John Huston (Moulin Rouge) and William Wyler (Roman Holiday).

In the recent years, some new recordings brought back to life the film music of Auric. As for us, we offer for the first time on CD the fine soundtracks from Bonjour Tristesse, Gervaise  and Christine, three movies directed respectively by Otto Preminger, René Clément and Pierre Gaspard-Huit, starring Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Jean Seberg, Maria Schell, Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.

Carefully restored, these original versions are performed with matchless warmth and liveness. The program offers an equal share of incidental-dramatic compositions and easy listening source cues, mostly intended for dancing, in addition to two songs. 16-page booklet with many stills. 

Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

01  Main Titles  1:59

02  Bonjour Tristesse - vocal: Juliette Gréco  4 :40

03  Wicked People from Paris  4:51

04  Dancing in the Streets  3:31

05  Lucky at Dice… Unlucky at Love  2:22

06  We Would Like to Get Married  3:27

07  Baiting the Trap  2:17

08  Cecile's Plan of Intrigue  3:44

09  With the Lombards  2:22

10  "Your Plan Worked"  3:02

11  Lost in the Woods  2:06

12  The Punishment Fits the Crime  4:33

                                                                

Gervaise (1956)      

13  Générique  1:48 

14  Chanson de Gervaise - chant : Maria Schell  2:56

15  Valse villageoise  1:13

16  Polka chromatique  2:57 

   

Christine (1958)

17  Générique  1:41

18  Lettre d'amour (cithare solo)  1:47

19  À Grinzing (valse 1)  2:49

20  Auberge dans la forêt (cithare solo)  3:08

21  À Grinzing (valse 2)  3:12

TT 60:32

Randall D. Larson  Soundtrax Column, USA, February 25th, 2010

Canada’s Disques Cinemusique, continuing to specialize in and preserve rare French film scores, has issued Bonjour Trsitesse, Otto Preminger’s 1958 romantic drama scored by Georges Auric (Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast ; Jack Clayton’s The Innocents).  Auric’s score is melodically sophisticated, elegant in its orchestration, and shimmering with late ‘50s Parisian glitz.  His main theme, which occupies most of the score in various permutations, is lovely, introduced in the main titles for massed strings emanating out of a discordant brass and percussion opening. 

© Disques CinéMusique