AGBU Press Office 55 East 59th Street New York, NY 10022-1112 Website: www.agbu.org PRESS RELEASE Monday, October 1, 2018 AGBU MARKS THE LOSS OF CHARLES AZNAVOUR, PRIDE OF THE ARMENIAN NATION One of the most universally celebrated vocalists and lyricists of his times, 94-year old Charles Aznavour passed away on October 1st at his home in Alpilles, France. While the world mourns the loss of this legendary entertainer whose love ballads captured the hearts of music lovers across the world, Aznavour, born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian to Armenian genocide survivors, will remain a national treasure not only to his native France but also to the Armenian Nation. For many years, he stood apart as the quintessential Armenian success story, rising from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of international fame. Yet he never seemed to forget his ancestral ties and always found ways to give back to the Armenian people as both a cultural icon, humanitarian and diplomat. Considered a national hero in Armenia, Aznavour leveraged his international stature in its behalf, beginning with the 1988 earthquake and later serving as Armenia's ambassador to Switzerland. He further cemented his legacy by establishing the Aznavour Foundation, dedicated to social and cultural projects that inspire youth. Just last May, he stated his solidarity for Armenia's Velvet Revolution, signaling that he was still engaged and inspired, despite his failing health. Even in the last chapters of his life, Aznavour continued to dazzle the world with his original brand of romantic ballads and songs, playing to sold-out audiences well into his ninth decade. In 2017, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, this year, was scheduled to perform live in Armenia at the 2018 Francophonie Summit, hosted in Erevan starting next week. In a recent exclusive interview conducted by AGBU News magazine in July of this year, Aznavour insisted that he had no intention of retiring. "I will continue to perform on stage as I once wrote, 'as long as my heart beats! (Laughs). To read the full interview, visit agbu.org/news-item/frances-favorite-son. President of AGBU Berge Setrakian, speaking on behalf of the global organization as well as on a personal note, remarked that "Charles Aznavour's amazing professional accomplishments will be chronicled and celebrated for many days and weeks to come. But it is his genuine spirit of compassion and instinct for connecting with the masses on an emotional level that makes every Armenian stand prouder knowing he is one of our own. While his passing may seem sudden, he was blessed with a long and fortunate life, which he filled to capacity bringing joy, solace and hope to others. Charles Aznavour was a force of nature that shall not pass this way again." Established in 1906, AGBU is the world's largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 500,000 Armenians around the world. For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit www.agbu.org.
Category: 2018
ARMENIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL GALA
Press Contact:
Shant Sahakian
(818) 482-9858
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARMENIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL GALA
Glendale, CA (October 1, 2018) – The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California is pleased to announce its Inaugural Gala on Sunday, December 9, 2018 at the Glendale Hilton.
The Gala will be the signature event of the year for the Armenian American Museum. The inaugural event will bring together donors, supporters, public officials, and community leaders for a memorable evening to celebrate and support the landmark project.
The Armenian American Museum will be the first world class cultural and educational center of its kind in America. The Museum program will feature a Permanent Armenian Exhibition, Traveling Multicultural Exhibitions, Performing Arts Theater, Learning Center, Museum Archives, Café, and Gift Shop.
The announcement of the Inaugural Gala follows the launch of the Museum’s Groundbreaking Campaign to raise awareness and raise funds for the historic project. The Museum will be hosting a wide range of events, presentations, and activities during the campaign leading up to the highly anticipated groundbreaking celebration at Glendale Central Park, the future home of the cultural and educational center.
Gala honorees and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
The deadline to reserve tickets and sponsorships is October 31, 2018.
To reserve tickets and learn more about sponsorship opportunities for the Inaugural Gala, visit www.ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org/Gala.
About the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California
The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California is a developing project in Glendale, CA with a mission to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. The Museum will serve as a cultural campus that enriches the community, educates the public on the Armenian American story, and empowers individuals to embrace cultural diversity and speak out against prejudice.
The governing board of the Armenian American Museum consists of representatives from the following ten Armenian American institutions and organizations: Armenian Catholic Eparchy, Armenian Cultural Foundation, Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Armenian General Benevolent Union Western District, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Relief Society Western USA, Nor Or Charitable Foundation, Nor Serount Cultural Association, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, and Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
###
JPEG image
Charles Aznavour dead: ‘France’s Frank Sinatra’ dies
The Guardian, UK
Oct 1 2018
Charles Aznavour, ‘France’s Frank Sinatra’, dies aged 94
French singer sold more than 80m records worldwide
Reuters
Mon 1 Oct 2018 13.14 BST Last modified on Mon 1 Oct 2018 13.20 BST
Charles Aznavour on stage in Geneva in March. Photograph: Valentin Flauraud/EPA
The French singer Charles Aznavour has died at the age of 94, French media has reported, citing his spokesman.
Aznavour, who was born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian parents, sold more than 100m records in 80 countries.
He was often described as France’s Frank Sinatra.
Charles Aznavour est mort
L’Obs, France
1 oct 2018
Charles Aznavour est mort
La légende de la chanson française n’est plus, annonce sa communication.
Par L’Obs
Publié le 01 octobre 2018 à 14h03
Le chanteur Charles Aznavour est mort dans la nuit, à l’âge de 94 ans, annoncent ce lundi 1er octobre ses attachées de presse à l’AFP. L’artiste s’est éteint à son domicile dans les Alpilles.
En plus de 70 ans de carrière, ce mythe de la chanson française, lui-même auteur-compositeur prolixe, aura enregistré plus de 1.200 chansons dans six langues différentes.
Difficile de résumer en quelques lignes ses plus grands succès, parmi lesquels “Emmenez-moi”, “La bohème”, “Hier encore”, “La Mamma”, “Je m’voyais déjà” ou “For me Formidable”.
Du haut de son mètre soixante-cinq, il était le dernier “grand” de la chanson française, ainsi que le chanteur français le plus connu à l’étranger. Il revenait tout juste d’une tournée au Japon, après avoir été contraint d’annuler des concerts cet été en raison d’une fracture du bras après une chute.
Charles Aznavour a aussi mené une longue carrière d’acteur, apparaissant dans plus de 80 films et téléfilms dont notamment “Tirez sur le pianiste” de François Truffaut (1960).
“J’ai fait une carrière inespérée mais exemplaire”, avait confié le “Sinatra français” à l’AFP. “Tout est une question de chance”. De chance mais aussi de talent et de volonté, puisqu’il a dû lutter à ses débuts pour imposer sa taille, son physique et sa voix atypiques, avant d’arriver tout en haut de l’affiche.
“Côté critiques, j’ai été servi : on a dit que j’étais laid, petit, qu’il ne fallait pas laisser chanter les infirmes”, racontait celui que la critique anglo-saxonne avait surnommé à ses débuts “Aznovoice” (jeu de mots signifiant “n’a pas de voix”).
Triomphe à New York
Charles Aznavour (de son vrai nom Aznavourian) naît à Paris d’un couple d’immigrés venus d’Arménie qui attendent un visa pour les Etats-Unis. Il gardera des liens très forts avec le pays de ses ancêtres. A ses débuts, il veut devenir comédien et fait de la figuration au théâtre et au cinéma.
Aznavour se lance dans la chanson en duo avec Pierre Roche au début des années 1940. En 1946, il rencontre Charles Trenet et Edith Piaf, qui le surnomme “le génie con” et le force à se refaire le nez. Il écrit pour d’autres (“Plus bleu que le bleu de tes yeux” pour Piaf, “Je hais les dimanches”, refusée par Piaf mais adoptée par Juliette Gréco) mais n’a aucun succès comme interprète et se voit affublé du sobriquet peu flatteur d”‘enroué vers l’or”.
La donne change au milieu des années 50 avec le succès de “Sur ma vie” (1954) et des passages à la célèbre salle de concert parisienne L’Olympia. En 1963, Aznavour triomphe au Carnegie Hall de New York et, devenu une vedette internationale, se lance dans une tournée mondiale. Il se rend alors pour la première fois en Arménie.
“Je n’ai jamais prononcé le mot adieux”
Dans les années 1970, Aznavour se frotte à des thèmes de société dans ses chansons : “Mourir d’aimer”, tirée du film du même nom et inspirée par le suicide d’une enseignante en 1969 après une liaison avec un élève, ou “Comme ils disent”, qui évoque l’homosexualité.
Quand d’autres songent à la retraite, lui continuait d’enchaîner disques, livres de souvenirs et concerts à travers le monde. “Je n’ai jamais, jamais prononcé le mot adieux !”, s’emportait-il en 2011, avant d’entamer une série de 22 concerts à l’Olympia pour ses 87 ans. Il était annoncé à Bruxelles le 26 octobre et devait encore se produire en novembre et décembre à la Seine musicale, près de Paris, puis en mini-tournée en France.
Sur scène, il impressionnait par sa vitalité intacte et ne faisait que quelques concessions à l’âge : un prompteur pour pallier les trous de mémoire, un fauteuil pour les coups de fatigue, sur lequel il reposait plus souvent en septembre, pour ces dernières représentations au Japon. Dans l’une de ses chansons, “J’abdiquerai”, Aznavour évoquait la mort en s’amusant ironiquement de son statut de monument de la chanson :
“S’il me reste encore un beau spectacle à faire/Un bel enterrement flatterait mon ego”.
(Avec AFP)
Master of the chanson Charles Aznavour dead at 94
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Oct 1 2018
Charles Aznavour was the best known French chansonnier and arguably Armenia’s most famous son. The singer who sold more than 100 million records in 80 countries died at the age of 94.
French singer Charles Aznavour has died at the age of 94, French media reported on Monday, citing his spokesman.
The musician wrote more than 1,000 chansons. Many of them, such as “La Boheme,” “Hier encore,” “La Mamma” and “She,” became worldwide hits at the hands of top performers like Shirley Bassey, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli and Nina Simone.
Aznavour could sing in seven languages, and in Germany, his “Du lässt dich geh’n” (“You’re Lettin’ Yourself Go”), addressed to a lover less than concerned with her upkeep, is a cult classic.
The multi-talented Frenchman could also act, appearing in Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum and in Francois Truffaut’s masterpiece Shoot the Piano Player, where he imitated a degenerate bar pianist. He also appeared on camera for French filmmaker Claude Chabrol and for Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s 2002 work Ararat about the genocide of Armenians in present-day Turkey.
By 1970, Aznavour was known throughout Europe
Armenian roots
Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian was born in Paris on May 22, 1924, the son of Armenian refugees. His father was a singer and his mother an actress.
Charles got his first theater gig at age nine and trotted with pride through the immigrant district where he spent his childhood. People knew him as the boy who acted. But he also went through much teasing — for being ugly, too small or hardly moving on stage.
A short man — 1.61 meters (5’3″) — but one with a relentless will, he made it to the top in the European music world. The famed singer Edith Piaf helped him achieve his breakthrough and took him along on a tour of France and the US in 1946. From then on, his career hit peak after peak.
“I don’t know if I’m a good singer in the classical sense,” Aznavour once said. “What’s more important than the beauty of a voice is its expressiveness and how someone interprets a song, fills it with life. With my songs, I’ve always tried to tell personal, intimate stories.”
Aznavour and Liza Minelli gave charity concerts together
Nearly 100 albums
Over the course of his 70-year career, Charles Aznavour released nearly 100 albums with a vast range of duet partners including Placido Domingo, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra and Sting. He received countless prizes and honors, and was named Entertainer of the Century in the US in 1998.
There was a time when he loved to show off his wealth, swimming in luxury and driving a Rolls Royce. His marriage to Ulla Ingegerd Thorssell from Sweden in 1967 was his third — and the one in which he said he found happiness.
Nicolas Sarkozy visited Armenia in 2011 together with the singer
Support for Armenia
Aznavour used his fame to support his parents’ home country — financially, politically and morally. His foundation, Aznavour for Armenia, collected millions for charity.
Former French President Jacques Chirac named Aznavour an Officier de la Legion d’Honneur for his political and social engagement. In December 2008, the singer was granted Armenian citizenship, and he has been the country’s ambassador in Switzerland and to UNICEF since 2009. Yerevan, the country’s capital, is home to a cultural center named after Aznavour.
Mort de Charles Aznavour après une longue et belle vie de bohème
Le Figaro, France
1 oct 2018
Mort de Charles Aznavour après une longue et belle vie de bohème
Par Michaël Naulin
DISPARITION – Le légendaire artiste franco-arménien s’est éteint à l’âge de 94 ans. Avec des chansons telles que Emmenez-moi, Je Me Voyais Déjà ou La Bohème, l’éternel Charles Aznavour a traversé les époques, les générations et les frontières.
«Chanteur de variété le plus important du XXe siècle». C’est le titre attribué en 1988 à Charles Aznavour par la chaîne américaine CNN et le Times. Plus de 1200 chansons dans sept langues différentes, des spectacles dans 94 pays et plus de 100 millions de disques vendus dans le monde entier. Mais aussi plus de 60 participations à des longs-métrages. Très discret sur sa vie privée, le chanteur a été marié trois fois et a eu six enfants dont trois avec sa dernière femme Ulla avec qui il était marié depuis plus de 50 ans.
Icône de la chanson française, Charles Aznavour était une star mondiale, au point d’avoir son étoile sur le «Walk of Fame» à Hollywood en 2017. Soixante-dix ans de carrière en haut de l’affiche pour cette légende de la chanson française. Il est mort dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi, à l’âge de 94 ans à son domicile dans les Alpilles (sud de la France), ont annoncé ce mardi ses attachées de presse. Il revenait d’une tournée au Japon, après avoir été contraint d’annuler des concerts cet été en raison d’une fracture du bras après une chute.
Ses premières années débutent comme un roman. Ses parents, Misha et Knar Aznavourian, viennent de Salonique, en Grèce. Son père est le fils d’un ancien cuisinier du tsar Nicolas II, sa mère appartient à une famille de commerçants arméniens de Turquie qui avaient fui le génocide de 1915. Charles Aznavour, à l’époque Varenagh Aznavourian, naît en France, le 22 mai 1924. Ses parents attendent à Paris un visa pour les États-Unis. Finalement, la France sera leur terre d’accueil. Son père mène une carrière de restaurateur et de patron de café laborieuse, il préfère chanter.
Encouragé également par sa mère, actrice, le jeune homme joue du violon dans les rues, entre à 9 ans à l’École du spectacle et se donne comme nom de scène «Aznavour». Rapidement, la chanson devient une évidence. Un certain Charles Trenet, devient son idole. À 17 ans, en pleine guerre, il rencontre un jeune compositeur fou de jazz, Pierre Roche. Le duo «Roche et Aznavour» commence à courir les cabarets. De cette collaboration naîtra notamment J’aime Paris au mois de mai.
1945, période creuse pour les deux artistes, malgré un contrat d’enregistrement signé avec Jacques Canetti chez Polydor. L’année d’après, la rencontre avec Edith Piaf les relance. Elle les invite à la suivre pendant une tournée de deux ans en France et aux États-Unis. La chanson swing du duo ne s’impose pas vraiment en France, mais a du succès au Canada… Et Pierre Roche finit par s’y marier. La carrière solo d’Aznavour débute… difficilement.
Pendant huit ans, l’artiste travaille dans l’ombre de la chanteuse. «Le petit génie con» devient l’homme à tout faire de l’icône, alors au sommet de sa carrière. Il conduit la voiture, répond au téléphone, s’occupe des éclairages et du son pendant les tournées… De temps à autre, il lui présente une chanson qu’il a écrite, sans grand succès. Piaf lui répète qu’il ne percera jamais comme chanteur.
Mais Aznavour persévère, s’accroche et écrit plusieurs chansons pour Gilbert Bécaud, Juliette Gréco, Patachou… Piaf elle-même fait un succès avec Jezebel.
En 1955, ses fossettes et son regard profond font leur première apparition à la télévision. Les mains dans les poches, l’air décontracté, presque désinvolte, Charles Aznavour entonne Le Palais de nos chimères:
Aznavour est sur la voie du succès: la critique a beau ne pas croire en lui, le public commence à s’attacher. Sur ma vie, Parce que, Sa jeunesse, Au creux de mon épaulesont ses premiers succès.
Un début de carrière qui aurait pu se terminer tragiquement. À l’été 1955, le chanteur est victime d’un violent accident de voiture sur la route de Saint-Tropez. Hôpital, convalescence: plusieurs mois éloigné du métier, il doit tout reconstruire. L’année suivante, Charles Aznavour fait sa première à l’Olympia. Mais les critiques sont toujours virulentes sur la voix et le physique du chanteur. Des propos qui le blessent profondément et pourtant, les propositions de contrats s’enchaînent.
«D’autres ont réussi avec un peu de voix mais beaucoup d’argent, Moi j’étais trop pur ou trop en avance, Mais un jour viendra je leur montrerai que j’ai du talent.»
La légende Aznavour est née un soir de décembre 1960. À l’Alhambra, le grand music-hall près de la place de la République, à Paris, sa carrière se joue en une soirée. Après six chansons interprétées dans une atmosphère glaciale, l’artiste sort sa dernière carte: Je m’voyais déjà. L’histoire d’un artiste dont la carrière ne décolle pas. Charles Aznavour entonne le dernier couplet: «On ne m’a jamais accordé ma chance, D’autres ont réussi avec un peu de voix mais beaucoup d’argent, Moi j’étais trop pur ou trop en avance, Mais un jour viendra je leur montrerai que j’ai du talent.» C’est l’ovation. Un succès énorme et définitif: Aznavour ne quittera plus le haut de l’affiche, il a 36 ans.
La Bohème, La Mamma, Sa jeunesse, Toi et moi, Mes emmerdes, Non je n’ai rien oublié, Désormais, Les Comédiens, Emmenez-moi, Tu t’laisses aller… Charles Aznavour enchaîne les tubes et, en 1963, entame une carrière aux États-Unis. Il séduit les Américains, qui se pressent pour assister à sa représentation au Carnegie Hall de New-York. Près de 400 New-Yorkais sont présents dans la salle. Le chanteur alterne les chansons en anglais et en français. Une soirée qui marque le véritable point de départ de sa carrière internationale.
En France, Aznavour devient une référence. Et quand, en 1989, il fait appel aux artistes français pour venir au secours de l’Arménie, son pays d’origine, qui vient d’être ravagé par un tremblement de terre, ils sont quatre-vingt-dix chanteurs et comédiens à se presser derrière le micro pour chanter Pour toi Arménie – le single sera vendu à un million d’exemplaires. En 1997, il est nommé officier de la Légion d’honneur.
Chanteur reconnu, Charles Aznavour aura aussi une carrière dans le cinéma avec 63 films au compteur. Si beaucoup ont été des nanars, il joue ses plus beaux rôles dans les années 1960: Tirez sur le pianistede Truffaut, Le Testament d’Orphée de Cocteau, Un taxi pour Tobrouk de La Patellière, Paris au mois d’août de Granier-Deferre… En 1968, la star internationale tourne son premier film en anglais: Candyde Christian Marquand avec Marlon Brando, Richard Burton et James Coburn. Il joue également en allemand, dans Le Tambour (1979) de Volker Schlöndorff qui obtient l’Oscar du meilleur film étranger. Héros dramatique, il tourne sous la direction de Claude Chabrol en 1982, Les Fantômes du chapelier dans le rôle d’un homme écrasé et réservé.
Aznavour compose de nombreuses musiques pour ses films, écrit le scénario de la comédie de Paul Boujenah, Yiddish Connection. Dans les années 1990, il se fait plus discret au cinéma, tournant principalement des téléfilms.
Huit kilos, c’est le poids de l’intégrale de l’œuvre d’Aznavour, sorti en 1996. Un imposant coffret de 33 CD en forme de colonne Morris qui donne toute la dimension de la carrière du chanteur.
Aznavour entre dans le XXIe siècle. Chaque tournée est alors présentée comme la dernière. En 2000, il annonce ses adieux, puis finalement fête ses 80 ans en 2004 au Palais des congrès, son port d’attache. L’année d’après, il entame une tournée d’adieu nord-américaine et poursuit ensuite cette dernière à l’international, en chantant en Asie, en Europe, en Océanie et en Amérique du Sud. Sa «dernière rentrée» était prévue en 2007. Mais chaque année, Aznavour savoure l’ivresse d’être en haut de l’affiche. 2009 est un nouveau marathon nord-américain.
» LIRE AUSSI – Charles Aznavour: «J’espère chanter jusqu’à 100 ans»
Un an plus tard, Charles Aznavour n’est toujours pas rassasié. Il sort Aznavour toujours, son 50ème album et enchaîne directement avec la tournée européenne Charles Aznavour en toute intimité. En 2013, on se souvient de son duo avec Johnny Hallyday sur le titre «Sur ma vie» à l’occasion des 70 ans de l’idole des jeunes. En mai 2015, il sort Encores, son 51e album, mais son 46e original. Auteur de nombreux volumes autobiographiques, le chanteur était passionné de littérature et confiait en 2017, dans les colonnes du Figaro: «Je m’instruis, parce que j’en ai besoin pour mon travail, pas pour briller en société. Mon nom brille pour moi, c’est déjà assez emmerdant.»
En 2018, Charles Aznavour repartait à 93 ans sur la route des concerts. Après sept ans d’absence, il s’était produit dans six villes en France en janvier. Celui qui voulait chanter jusqu’à l’âge de 100 ans, devait effectuer une tournée en novembre à travers le monde.
● Duo avec Johnny Hallyday sur le titre «Sur ma vie» à l’occasion des 70 ans de l’idole des jeunes.
Charles Aznavour, France’s eternal crooner poet
Bangkok Post
Oct 1 2018
Charles Aznavour, France’s eternal crooner poet
- 1 Oct 2018 at 19:45 0 comments
- WRITER: AFP
PARIS – They told him he was too ugly, too short and that he couldn’t sing. But Charles Aznavour, who has died aged 94, became one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the 20th century.
He was dubbed France’s Frank Sinatra, but unlike the American crooner, Aznavour wrote his own songs, often breaking taboos about marriage, homosexuality and men talking about their emotions.
With lyrics that talked of sex, depression and flagging libidos, he said what was then unsayable, such as his 1973 hit “What Makes a Man”, about a gay transvestite.
Still performing to packed stadiums well into his 90s, Aznavour continued to write every day and push the boundaries, eulogising the smell of his Swedish wife’s armpits in one song celebrating their 50 years of marriage.
“It’s a kind of sickness I have, talking about things you’re not supposed to talk about,” he said.
“I started with homosexuality and I wanted to break every taboo.”
“I felt strongly and I had to take a stand,” he said.
The same fearlessness made him a tireless campaigner for the recognition of the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide, becoming Armenia’s ambassador to Switzerland and permanent delegate to the United Nations.
Born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris on May 22, 1924, to parents who had fled the massacres, Aznavour sold more than 180 million records in a career spanning eight decades and as many languages.
A gifted actor as well as linguist, Aznavour brought a rare intensity to the stage, turning every song into “a one-act play”.
And it was his leading role in Francois Truffaut’s film “Shoot the Piano Player” in 1960 that catapulted him to fame outside France.
– Refugee heroes –
He would later appear in the Oscar-winning “The Tin Drum”, playing a kindly Jewish toy seller.
In fact, Aznavour saw himself “more as an actor who sings than a singer who acts”.
Yet starring in more than 60 films did not stop him writing over 1,300 songs in a staggeringly prolific career.
It was only by chance that Aznavour was born in the French capital, where his parents were waiting in vain for a visa for the US after escaping the collapsing Ottoman empire.
Instead they set up a little emigre restaurant called Le Caucase (the Caucasus), where Aznavour and his sister sang and danced from a very young age.
Later the family hid Jews and Armenians fleeing the Gestapo during the German occupation, including the Resistance leader Missak Manouchian, who was eventually captured and beheaded by the Nazis.
Manouchian’s wife Melinee only escaped thanks to the Aznavourians, who were later honoured by Israel for their bravery.
Having left school early — a decision he forever regretted — to become a song-and-dance man, Aznavour got his big break after the war when he opened for the rising French star Edith Piaf.
She took him to America as her manager and songwriter while he worked on his voice, “singing until my throat was sore. And it paid off. My voice developed from a small tenth of an octave to a range of nearly three octaves,” he said.
Aznavour lived with Piaf for eight years, though he insisted he never became one of her many lovers because “she was not my type”.
Either way she badgered him into getting a nose job.
– ‘Armenia in my heart’ –
Even so, his solo career had a rocky start, with the man who would later be named “Entertainer of the Century” by CNN and Time Online, once being booed off stage.
“They said I was ugly and short; that the ill should not be allowed to sing,” he told AFP, referring to his unique tenor voice.
But he had his first number one hit in 1956 with “Sur Ma Vie” (In My Life). That was followed by one of his biggest hits, “Je M’voyais Deja” (It Will Be My Day).
Buoyed by the success of “Shoot the Piano Player” he took New York’s Carnegie Hall by storm in 1963 before touring the world and seeing his songs recorded by stars from Ray Charles to Liza Minnelli and Fred Astaire.
He also performed duets with Sinatra, Elton John, Sting and Celine Dion and his song “She” was re-recorded by Elvis Costello for the British romantic comedy “Notting Hill”.
Aznavour was always strongly associated with France’s large ethnic Armenian community, and in 1988 he led humanitarian efforts to help the victims of the earthquake that shattered his parents’ homeland.
“Armenia and Armenians are in my heart and in my blood. It was unthinkable that I would do nothing faced by so much misfortune and suffering,” he wrote, describing the quake as a turning point in his life.
A father of six, who married three times, he said the “first time I was too young, the second I was too stupid, and the third I married a woman from a different culture and I learned tolerance”.
Charles Aznavour, France’s ‘Frank Sinatra,’ Dies at 94
Hollywood Reporter
Oct 1 2018
Charles Aznavour, singer and actor, whose gestures and expressions conveyed the romance of Paris to worldwide audiences, has died.
An actor turned singer, he epitomized the French chansonnier: His songs were half-sung, half-spoken acclamations of love. A popular-song stylistic, Aznavour was a charismatic stage presence, despite his 5 ft. 3 inch height and pedestrian appearance. He headlined at such Parisian venues as the Olympia and was very popular with international audiences.
In 2005, he was chosen as Entertainer of the Century in an on-line poll conducted by Time magazine, topping such superstars as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
In a career that spanned roughly six decades, Aznavour wrote more than 1,000 songs and sold more than 100 million records. He often wrote songs that were considered immoral. Until 1960, 60% of his songs were banned from the French radio. He also wrote music with political or social themes, which he dubbed his “faits de societe” songs.
He was sung by all the great French musical stars, including Edith Piaf, his onetime mentor, and Maurice Chevalier.
As an actor, his most memorable role was as the barroom pianist with a troubled past in Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player.
When queried about which profession he preferred, singing or acting, he said, Each of my songs is a story. He called himself a “happy sad singer.”
In 1994, he signed a deal with EMI, which authorized re-release of his life’s recordings, which was packaged in a series of 30 CDs in 1996. He was feted with a cover on Billboard that year, rare for a foreign singer.
His first film Head Against the Wall won him the Crystal Star Award from the French Motion Picture Academy. He was also memorable as the marathon runner in The Games, and as a Jewish shopkeeper in Volker Schloendorff’s The Tin Drum.
He also performed in Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat, a film about the Armenian genocide. He was instrumental in erecting a commemorative statue for the victims in Paris.
As a singer, Aznavour packed French theaters and music halls. During a 15-year period in the ’60s and ’70s, only Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Elton John topped Aznavour in sales. He had a hit single, She, in 1974, which later was used covered by Elvis Costello in the romantic comedy Notting Hill, and was also used in Tadpole.
He was popular with mainstream U.S. audiences, as well: On U.S. television, Aznavour performed in a dual concert on TV with Liza Minnelli titled Love from A to Z.
He entertained at the Hollywood Bowl with a program of songs in French and English, accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He finished with Yesterday When I Was Young, which he wrote.
Sad eyed and slight-framed, Aznavour won audiences by simple emotion. Time magazine once characterized his music: “His words are the plea of any poor devil, sung in any poor devil’s voice.”
“I sing about the ordinary things of life. My ideas are everyone’s ideas. My problems are their. …. So the audience accepts me. I am not a handsome, talented man. My voice is froggy, everything about me is common. They identify with me.”
In 1975, he starred in Claude Chabrol’s “Folies Bourgeoises, and, in 1983, starred in another Chabrol film, Le Fantome du Chapelier.
In U.S. films, he also played a wild hunchback in Candy and a villain in Harold Robbins’ The Adventurers.
Other film credits include: Tomorrow is My Turn, Taxi for Tobruk, High Fidelity and Paris in the Month of August. For 20th Century Fox, he played a European police chief in Sky Riders, which also starred James Coburn and Susannah York.
He was born as Shahnour Varenagh Aznavurjian on May 22, 1924 in Paris of Armenian parents. His father was a singer, his mother an actress. At age nine, he entered acting and at 11 left school. He was 16 when World War II began and survived by selling newspapers and sweeping streets. He teamed with actor Pierre Roche in a double act, and began song-write collaboration with Roche. He wrote songs for the likes of Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier.
Aznavour was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986.
Most recent films include Le Comedien, Les Momes, Laguna, and Ennemis publics.
He was married five times and had five children: Seda, Patricia, Katia, Patrick and Mischa.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/charles-aznavour-dead-frances-frank-sinatra-was-94-1148204
US House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes explores options to reduce American reliance on Turkey’s Incirlik Airbase
ArmenPress, Armenia
Sept 30 2018
US House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes explores options to reduce American reliance on Turkey’s Incirlik Airbase
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. American Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, discussed reducing U.S. reliance upon Turkey’s Incirlik airbase during a meeting in the U.S. Capitol with Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian, ANCA said in a press release.
“I had a wide-ranging and productive discussion with Aram on important issues ranging from the need for full recognition of the Armenian Genocide to whether some functions of our Incirlik military base in Turkey should be transferred elsewhere,” said Chairman Nunes, following the meeting.
“We welcome this opportunity to explore a broad array of regional priorities with our friend, Chairman Nunes, including near-term options to reduce America’s reliance on Turkey’s Incirlik airbase,” said ANCA’s Aram Hamparian. “As Armenians know all too well, Turkey has long leveraged this base to hold America hostage. Diversifying our forward positioning will lessen the leverage of Turkey’s increasingly hostile Erdogan government, broadening America’s range of action across a broad array of regional, security, and humanitarian priorities – among them, of course, full and formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” concluded Hamparian.
Congressman Nunes has a long record in support of issues of special concern to Armenian Americans in California’s Central Valley and across America, and has received an “A” rating from the ANCA over the past 4 terms in office. He has been an ardent advocate of U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide, having cosponsored related legislation in every term since his election to office in 2002. He has consistently called on both Democrat and Republican U.S. presidents to properly commemorate the crime in their April 24th annual remembrance statements and visited the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia in 2012.
On Artsakh safety and security he has been equally outspoken, consistently supporting the implementation of the Royce – Engel peace proposals. At the start of the 4-day Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh in April, 2016, Nunes cautioned, “The clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh risk escalating into a dangerous, wider war. The ceasefire must be scrupulously observed, while Azerbaijan needs to implement widely-supported peacekeeping measures along the line of contact, including a withdrawal of snipers and an expanded role for the OSCE.” In 2018, he was one of only two Republicans calling for expanded aid to Armenia and Artsakh for Fiscal Year 2019.
Congressman Nunes condemned the Erdogan-ordered attacks on peaceful protesters in Washington, DC in May, 2017, stating “Erdogan is busy turning his own country into an authoritarian state, but he needs to know that his thugs are not welcome here and that there will be consequences for this attack.”
In 2003, Rep. Nunes joined with the ANCA Central California to honor then State Senator Chuck Poochigian as ANC Man of the Year. “It’s really about honesty–integrity and a man who is a tireless worker on behalf of all the people,” said Congressman Nunes.
Nunes was first elected to public office as one of California’s youngest community college trustees in state history at the age of 23. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as California State Director for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development section. He left this post to successfully run for California’s 21st congressional district and now serves in the 22nd district as a result of redistricting in 2010.
Nunes was appointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 112th Congress and became its chairman in the 114th Congress.
Celebration of Lebanon’s culinary landscape
The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Saturday
Celebration of Lebanon’s culinary landscape
by Clara Suchy
Beirut’s foodies will have the opportunity this weekend to try the best dishes and drink offerings of 50 bars and restaurants in the city, all in one place.
BEIRUT: Beirut’s foodies will have the opportunity this weekend to try the best dishes and drink offerings of 50 bars and restaurants in the city, all in one place. At the third annual Beirut Restaurants Festival, which opened Friday and closes Sunday evening, guests can choose from a myriad of dishes and wash it down with a cocktail as they walk through the iconic Trainstation event space in Mar Mikhael, all while learning about the vibrant culinary landscape of Lebanon.
“Guests can come in and spend the whole day and taste food from 50 restaurants, including Lebanese, Japanese, Chinese, French, American and Armenian food,” one of the event’s organizers, Maya Bekhaazi, told The Daily Star.
Last year, the festival attracted 15,000 visitors, though organizers are expecting that number to be even higher this weekend.
“The first year when we started this, the idea was to celebrate restaurants. We wanted to highlight the efforts of Lebanese restaurants not only serving Lebanese food but also international cuisine. The purpose of this festival is to celebrate the initiative, creation and success of Lebanese restaurant owners,” said Bekhaazi, who is also a part of the festival’s founding team.
This festival features food trucks, bars, a children’s area, a musical stage and a number of lounges. Entertainment is provided for all ages, with a special program for the younger festival goers.
“There is a full entertainment program, morning to night. There is also a kids’ area, where people can leave their children and pick them up once they have walked through the festival,” Bekhaazi added.
Musical entertainment is being provided by a number of bands and singers throughout the weekend. Arnabeat, a local band, will entertain guests with its fusion melodies, while singers like Joy Fayad, Marc Hatem and Andrea Bou Nehme will serenade visitors with solo performances.
Bekhaazi also owns her own restaurant, which is offering its products at the festival. Curli-Q is a specialty cake shop that makes cakes baked layer by layer on spits. “We are going to have something very new this weekend. We will have Curli-Qs dipped in chocolate with toppings and ice cream,” Bekhaazi said. Speaking from experience, she knows that people visiting food festivals expect decadent treats, which is why she developed this specialty.
Batchig, a Lebanese restaurant serving regional dishes with an Armenian twist, is another eatery sharing its culinary creations with visitors. Joining the festival for the second year in a row, they are serving a wide variety of Armenian specialties.
“Signature dishes such as manti, which are vegetarian or meat-filled dumplings, soujouk, an Armenian sausage taco, and a wild cherry kabab will be served,” owner Aline Kamakian said.
Kamakian added that festival goers can “expect different kinds of cuisine, great ambiance and portions that are small enough to taste something from many stands.”
In addition to having the chance to try dishes from over 50 Beirut restaurants, visitors can also learn how to prepare their own gourmet meals. Chef Sleiman Khawand, culinary instructor at the Institut de Gestion Hoteliere Dikwaneh, is preparing a range of dishes live, which people can later prepare at home.
“We are going to do special food with the avocado. We have six different kinds of avocados and are going to make 12 recipes live eight savory and four sweet,” Khawand says.
Khawand is a part of the Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development with the aim of promoting different agricultural sectors in Lebanon. Having worked with farmers to improve avocado production, LIVCD is now working on the consumer side, informing people about the benefits of vegetables.
“It was important for us to educate the consumer,” said Cynthia Daher, marketing specialist for LIVCD. “This is why we have asked to participate in the festival. Everyone knows that avocado has tremendous health benefits. It was important for us to have this product well presented to the public.”
The events with Khawand, taking place throughout the three-day festival, may prove to be the highlight of any avocado-lover’s weekend. Creative dishes, from avocado soup to Mediterranean chicken rolls, are just the tip of the iceberg. Besides learning to prepare some dishes, visitors have the chance to go on intriguing culinary journeys, tasting avocado cheesecake, truffle avocado chocolate or avocado profiteroles.
The third annual Beirut Restaurants Festivals continues Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. and ending at 1 a.m. The festival opens again Sunday from noon until 11 pm.