Old French Chanson: Emma Liebel - Mon Paris, 1925

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• published: 05 Jan 2015
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Emma Liebel avec accompagnement d’Orchestre – Mon Paris, (V.Scotto), Odeon 1925 (France) NOTE: The name Emma LIEBEL is almost entirely unknown today. As writes author of a very interesting French page "Du Temps des Cerises aux Feuilles Mortes" http://dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net/fiches_bio/liebel_emma/liebel_emma.htm - “...Emma Liebel's name is absent in the majority of dictionaries, reference books and other volumes on the French song and when it is mentioned, it is usually at the bottom of the page, in a note referring to a recording of one of her songs, made by another interpreter”. On the Web, some references guide us to sites where you can buy a song or two by her, usually included into a larger collection. Also her original records, less and less frequently emerge on the flea markets or in the junk stores. Born Aimee Médebielle shortly before 1900 in Pau, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Emma Liebel seems to have made an early debut in her native area, before she appeared in Paris in 1909 or 1910. She had a significant start at Bobino, where she must have made a successful appearance, for the list of casinos and music halls where she performed thereafter is impressive, including places such as Casino Montparnasse, Concordia, Eden, Zenith, European or the Eldorado. On her recordings, we can hear an unforgettable slightly harsh voice, and her quite innnovatory interpretations remind us of those made much later by Frehel, Damia or Berthe Sylva. Emma Liebel continued her career – climbing up from level of a provincial singer to the heights of the Parisian monde - until 1926, when she was diagnosed tuberculosis. Following her doctor’s advice, she gave up artistic life and travelled back to her homeland in the Pyrénées. She opened there a small tavern, but not for long: she died in Jan 1928, leaving behind around 200 records.