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Date Posted: 22:57:53 02/14/03 Fri
Author Host/IP: NoHost/66.198.148.214
Subject: The Legend, the Voice, the Songs
The Legend, the Voice, the Songs
02/13/2003
"Inspired" is the best way to describe the musical partnership of
world-renowned composer Michel Legrand and Asia's Songbird Regine
Velasquez.
Credit for this remarkable idea goes to Maxi-Media International, the
producer of "Songbird Sings Legrand," the Valentine concerts of
Michel and Regine at the PICC Plenary Hall on Feb. 14 and 15.
"Michel had a show in Manila (with Pop Diva Kuh Ledesma)," Regine
remembers. "And Michel expressed a wish to work with another Asian
artist. I think Maxi-Media suggested my name so that was how it all
started."
"Michel is very open about working with artists from a younger
generation," explains Philippe Giboust, Michel's manager. "And she
has what Michel requires in an artist: a fantastic personality and a
strong voice."
Because this was the legendary Legrand, the same musicmaker who has
worked with her idols Barbra Streisand and Kuh Ledesma, the same
composer who penned the astonishing songs from "Yentl," Regine was
incredulous at first.
"I wasn't really expecting anything," Regine quips. "I thought it was
all talk. Parang things happened so fast nga, eh."
Indeed, before Regine knew it, she was flying all the way to Paris,
France, and motoring all the way to Michel's chalet somewhere in the
European countryside.
And then Regine, the Voice, finally met Legrand, the Legend.
It was instant fireworks, to be sure. They hit it off instantly and,
to everyone's delight, began making beautiful music immediately after
the first encounter.
Michel Legrand remembers it vividly. He was at the piano,
accompanying Regine when "on the first note, I knew it already. This
is for me. Oh, I loved it! I loved it! I told her, `Let's get married—
musically, that is!'" Michel looks back fondly.
It was a musical partnership made in heaven.
"She is my sister," Michel says of Regine. "A younger sister, though."
"Michel is so nice," Regine returns the compliment. "He's so funny.
Like a lolo, Michel is so fatherly. I love him!"
Moreover, Michel was the kind of collaborator who is sensitive to the
feelings of an artist.
"I was so happy because he would often ask me if I were satisfied
with the songs," Regine remarks. "I'm actually included in the
creative process. " Michel asks and values Regine's opinions as a
fellow artist.
Since their initial meeting in Europe, Michel has already mastered
Regine's vocal prowess."He already knows my style," Regine pipes
in. "He knows what I can and cannot do. He knows what fits me. He
even knows my range!"
The 45-year-old music veteran has high hopes for the fruit of their
musical collaboration; the new album that's produced by Maxi-Media
International (same producer behind their Valentine
concerts, "Songbird Sings Legrand)."
"It will be a pleasure," Michel describes the forthcoming Regine
album. "Musically, it will have a very high quality. We're gonna
scream. We're gonna cry. We're gonna walk on the ceiling."
Aside from the album and Valentine's concerts, Michel has other plans
for Regine.
"I hope to appear in more concerts with her," Michel quips. "It's
important that we'd be accepted as a tandem onstage. After all, we
are already married—musically, that is."
"I heard that we might do more concerts in the US," Regine crosses
her fingers. "Maybe a tour, too, in Europe. Since we've already done
an album, it will be very easy for us to work onstage together. Doing
a concert will be a breeze because we're already married…musically!"
Seems the Legend and the Voice are echoing the same sentiments. They
are even talking about the possibility of doing a movie (a musical,
perhaps) together—with Michel as musical scorer and director and
Regine as the star.
"He told me about it," Regine recalls. "It's about this blind girl
who fell in love with an older American man. But later on she
realized that it would not work out. It's based on a popular French
book, `Blind Love,' the rights of which Michel already bought. It
will have a lot of singing daw."
In the here and now, however, they have a Valentine concert to mount.
In a way, the Valentine shows will serve as a preview to the upcoming
album. It will also be the official coming-out party of the Legend
and the Voice, their first major public performance in the
Philippines and in the world.
Needless to say, the Valentine concerts are now the hottest tickets
in town—as eagerly awaited as the Maxi-Media album they worked on in
Europe.
Will this be the start of a wonderful musical partnership for Michel
and Regine? Will this be the beginning of an international recording
career for Asia's Songbird?
"This is a huge project for me," Regine acknowledges. "I think Maxi-
Media is planning to release the album not only in the Philippines,
but also all over Asia, then, hopefully, in Europe and the US. This
is pretty exciting!"
Included in the album's lineup are some of Michel's timeless
hits. "He included a medley of songs from `Yentl,'" Regine
reveals. "As well as `Breezy's Song,' which was from the
movie `Breezy.' Also the theme of Summer of '42, which I adore. He
also gave me a new song called `Loving you, Loving Me, Loving you,'
which has never been recorded before."
The Legend met the Voice and the resulting songs are bound to become
classics.
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