How many melodies did Michel Legrand compose? It has always been impossible for him to give an exact figure. Macha Méril, his last wife, is also incapable of doing so. He was so prolific that after his death, exactly 5 years ago, she found entire boxes of unpublished tapes and scores. Melodies that will one day be added to those that have become international hits. Madelen invites you to discover one of them, Les moulins de mon coeur, which he performed live one evening, accompanied by Armand Migiani’s grand orchestra. This is the French version of the soundtrack to the film The Thomas Crown Affair, which won its first Oscar in 1969 before another, three years later, for Summer 42.
These trophies, to which must be added Césars and Golden Globes, are the fruit of almost permanent work, and of a passion for a profession that he swore to pursue from the age of 5. Genes undoubtedly have something to do with it: he is the son and nephew of two famous conductors, Raymond Legrand and Jacques Helian. At the age of 12, he obtained a first prize in music theory at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. His destiny as a child prodigy is then mapped out: he will join the Villa Medicis and will undoubtedly obtain a Prix de Rome. He refuses this royal road without hesitation. Preferring jazz to classical, he began by earning his living as a bar pianist, then landed contracts to accompany Henri Salvador, Zizi Jeanmaire and a few others on tour. At the same time, he set up a jazz orchestra and found himself in 1957, in Leningrad, to represent France at the World Festival of Youth and Students for Peace and Friendship. Spotted by Maurice Chevalier, he became his “musical director” in Paris and New York. This is how he recorded I love Paris, an album where he added one of his compositions, La valse des lilas, to famous refrains that he had reorchestrated. Success is immediate. The American press devotes dozens of articles to the man it now nicknames “Big Mike.”
Back in France, he worked with Jacques Demy on an “all in music” film project. He devoted two years to writing and arranging the scores for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. No producer believes it. It was thanks to the help of a few friends, starting with Francis Lemarque, that the money necessary for filming was finally raised. The bet is won. A Palme d’Or at Cannes precedes global success. The Americans greet the new Gershwin, the Japanese fall in love with Catherine Deneuve, the Australians discover that there is, somewhere in France, a town called Cherbourg, and the Scandinavians understand that the Algerian war could have separated lovers. Other original soundtracks, starting with Les demoiselles de Rochefort, also became classics.
Following the events of May 68, he decided to settle in New York, in order to improve his English. His success and his aura did not prevent him from returning to France, five years later. He quickly understood that Americans considered money more important than talent, and could not stand it. Back in Paris, he chose to devote part of his time to interpretation. Considering himself too shy to have the ambition of becoming a stage performer, he nevertheless agreed to perform at the Olympia in 1972, opening for Caterina Valente. The start of a personal career whose highlights were duets with Sarah Vaughan, Nana Mouskouri and Nicole Croisille. He finally found the time to compose musicals: The Count of Monte Cristo, created in Brussels, was on the bill at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Le Passe muraille adapted from Marcel Aymé by Didier van Cauwelaert, triumphed at Marigny, before being rewarded with three Molières. At the end of his life, he said that he never felt like he was really working, but rather having fun. A privilege as rare as his talent.
