Frida Boccara


Danielle Frida Hélène Boccara was a French singer of Italian descent, who performed and recorded in a number of languages, including French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Dutch and Russian.

Early life

Boccara was born in Casablanca, Morocco, into a Jewish family of Italian origin that lived in Tunisia before they settled in Morocco. When she was 17, she moved from Casablanca to Paris, France, where she eventually started her artistic career as a singer. Boccara also had a brother and a sister in show business, composers Jean-Michel Braque and Lina Boccara. Her son, Tristan Boccara, was born in the mid-1970s and also became a singer known by the stage name ''Goldinski''

Career

In 1964, Boccara had submitted the song "Autrefois" to the Eurovision Song Contest selection panel, but she was unsuccessful. Five years later, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, held in Madrid, Spain, she represented France performing "Un jour, un enfant" – with music by Émile Stern and text by Eddy Marnay. Her song shared first place along with the entries from the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain, the first and last time more than one country was declared the winner.
Songwriter Eddy Marnay was her professional partner, but she also performed songs composed by Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Charles Aznavour, Émile Stern, Michel Legrand, Michel Magne, Nino Rota and Mikis Theodorakis.
"Cent mille chansons" was recorded in 1968 and earned her a gold disc, while "Un jour, un enfant" earned her a platinum disc and "Pour vivre ensemble" earned her another gold. Other of her famous songs include "Cherbourg avait raison", "Aujourd'hui", "Les moulins de mon cœur", "L'enfant aux cymbales", "Belle du Luxembourg", "La croix, l'étoile et le croissant", "Venise va mourir", "Trop jeune ou trop vieux", "Valdemosa", "L'année où Piccoli jouait Le choses de la vie", "Un monde en sarabande" and "La prière". In the late 1960s, she also recorded "Un pays pour nous", a song that was a French version of "Somewhere". Leonard Bernstein, who composed the original melody, declared that Boccara's version was his favorite.

Later years and death

Boccara renewed her links with Eurovision by participating in the French national finals of – performing "Un enfant de France" – and – with "Voilà comment je t'aime". However, neither song was selected. She died in 1996 in Paris, France, aged 55, from a pulmonary infection, after a decline in health.

Discography

  • 1959: "Baccara 9" n° 17 —Mes frères/La chanson d'Orphée
  • 1960: L'orgue des amoureux/''Le doux caboulot
  • 1960: Verte campagne/Quand la valse est là/Le grand amour/Depuis ce temps-là
  • 1961: La Seine à Paris/Les amours du samedi/Les Bohémiens/Jenny
  • 1961: On n'a pas tous les jours 20 ans/Berceuse tendre/Les nuits/Les yeux de maman
  • 1961: Cherbourg avait raison/Comme un feu/Un jeu dangereux/Tiens, c'est Paris
  • 1962: Les trois mots/Aujourd'hui je fais la fête/Je veux chanter/Je ne peux plus attendre
  • 1962: Le ciel du port/Les portes de l'amour/Ballade pour un poète/D'abord je n'ai vu
  • 1962: Un premier amour/Bruxelles/L'homme de lumière/Les Pas
  • 1962: Java des beaux dimanches/Les Javas/Rose de sang/Quien sabe
  • 1963: Moi je n'avais pas compris/J'ai peur de trop t'aimer/On les a attendus/Rien a changé
  • 1963: Souviens-toi des Noëls de là-bas/Donna/Johnny Guitar/Ballade pour notre amour
  • 1964: Autrefois/Chaud dans mon cœur/Le souffle de ma vie/Je suis perdue
  • 1965: Tous les enfants/Aujourd'hui/Plus jamais/Un jour
  • 1967: Frida Boccara
  • 1969: Un jour, un enfant
  • 1969: Les vertes collines
  • 1970: Au pays de l'arbre blanc
  • 1971: Pour vivre ensemble
  • 1971: Place des Arts 71
  • 1971: So ist das Leben/Er wird dir dankbar sein
  • 1972: Rossini et Beaumarchais
  • 1972: Greatest Hits
  • 1974: Je me souviens
  • 1975: Oriundi
  • 1976: Valdemosa – Oublier
  • 1978: An Evening With Frida Boccara
  • 1978: L'année où Piccoli jouait "Les choses de la vie"
  • 1979: Un monde en sarabande
  • 1980: Un enfant de France/Écrit dans la pierre
  • 1983: Dis-leur/Aime-moi
  • 1984: Cent mille chansons, Série grandes vedettes
  • 1988: Témoin de mon amour
  • 1989: Expression
  • 1993: Master série
  • 1994: Un jour, un enfant
  • 1997: Frida Boccara
  • 1999: Un jour on vit
  • 1999: Ses premiers succès
  • 2003: Canta en español
  • 2005: Live Place-des-Arts de Montréal
  • 2006: Un sourire au-delà du ciel
  • 2007: La grande Frida Boccara, l'ultime compilation
  • 2008: Un enfant de France
  • 2010: Les grandes années – 1972–1988
  • 2010: Collection chanson française''