麻豆约拍

Former First Lady of France and singer songwriter Carla Bruni presents the second of three programmes where she tells her musical story, plays her favourite songs and celebrates the music of Paris.

Recorded in the same Champs-脡lys茅es studio where she produced her most recent album, Little French Songs, she chooses music by Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Barbara, Francoise Hardy, Charles Trenet and Serge Gainsbourg.

In Little French Song, Carla insists that France has a lot to be proud of musically. "I was talking about the impact or impression that French songs will give to the rest of the world." Carla celebrates the emotional complexities of the French song. This is music from the heart with strong narratives, drawing from elements of poetry. Performed live, French songs create a bond where the audience often feel privy to the artist's life; such is the confessional nature of this music.

Carla's favourite French music takes us through Trenet's nostalgic Paris via Jacques Brel's magnetic music hall shows. She describes Edith Piaf burning while she sings and singles out her idol Barbara's stark confessionals.

She recalls seeing Serge Gainsbourg every night during his residency at the Casino de Paris, where he fell down stairs with the help of a stunt double.

Carla also plays some of her own music, including Dolce Francia, her Italian version of Charles Trenet's Douce France and her cover of the rare Serge Gainsbourg song La Noyee.

With the writer Norman Lebrecht.