Christiane Legrand (21 August 1930 – 1 November 2011) was a French soprano.

Biography

Legrand was born in Paris. Her father

Raymond Legrand Raymond Paul Legrand (May 23, 1908 in Paris – November 25, 1974 in Montreal) was a French composer and conductor. Career Legrand studied harmony and orchestration as a pupil of Gabriel Faure. In the realms of jazz and light music, he made arran ...

was a conductor and composer renowned for hits such as ''Irma la douce'', and her mother was Marcelle Ter-Mikaëlian (sister of conductor

Jacques Hélian Jacques Mikaël Der Mikaëlian better known as Jacques Hélian (born in Paris, 7 June 1912 - died 29 June 1986), was a famous French orchestra conductor for French music-hall. Biography Born of an Armenian father (descendant of Armenian bourge ...

), who married Legrand in 1929. Her maternal grandfather was of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent and considered a member of the bourgeoisie.Biography of Michel Legrand
, Radio France Internationale, Retrieved 26 December 2009. Legrand studied piano and classical music from the time she was four. Jazz critic and composer

André Hodeir André Hodeir (22 January 1921 – 1 November 2011) was a French violinist, composer, arranger and musicologist. Biography Hodeir was born in Paris and trained as a classical violinist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, whe ...

discovered her in 1957, and she became the lead singer in the most notable French jazz vocal groups of the 1960s, including

Les Double Six Les Double Six (also known as the Double Six of Paris) was a French vocal jazz group established in 1959 by Mimi Perrin. The group established an international reputation in the early 1960s. The name of the group was an allusion to the fact that the ...

. Legrand was the original lead soprano of

The Swingle Singers 270px, The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany">Kirchzarten.html" ;"title="Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten">Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany on 29 June 2019 The Swingles are a v ...

and was the vocalist who dubbed the part of Madame Emery in ''

Les parapluies de Cherbourg ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (french: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music and lyrics by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young lov ...

'', the music for which was composed by her brother

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

. She also sang the part of Judith in his ''

Les demoiselles de Rochefort ''The Young Girls of Rochefort'' (french: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, lit=The Young Ladies of Rochefort) is a 1967 French musical comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy. The ensemble cast is headlined by real-life sisters Catherine De ...

''. Her commercial recordings of music for the concert hall included a recording of ''Laborinthus II'' of

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

. Legrand sang the lead role on the French Disney recording of the score to the film ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'' (1964) and lent her talents to numerous other film projects. Legrand was the featured soprano on the track "Fires (Which Burn Brightly)" on the 1973

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

album ''

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

''. Her niece

Victoria Legrand Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand (born May 28, 1981) is a French-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist of the dream pop duo Beach House. Early life Legrand was born in Paris, France, the daughter of painte ...

is a member of the American indie pop group

Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...

. Another niece,

Eugénie Angot Eugénie Angot (née Legrand; born 27 June 1970) is a French equestrian. She competed in individual jumping and team jumping at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Her father was composer Michel Legrand (1932-2019). She was previously married ...

, is an equestrian.

Discography

*''

Communications '72 ''Communications '72'' is an album by saxophonist Stan Getz and orchestra arranged and conducted by Michel Legrand which was released on the Verve label in 1972.Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

)

References

External links

Biography on comufra.com
*
Les Swinger Singers J S Bach Partita No 2
1930 births 2011 deaths French people of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian women singers Singers from Paris 20th-century French women singers Les Double Six members The Swingle Singers members {{France-singer-stub