DIVAS

Grande Dame Raquel Bitton.                                                       Between Edith Piaf, Raquel Bitton and the French American Cabaret

  By Maximillien de Lafayette

She is Edith Piaf’s Soul, Tears and Joy, but she remains herself: The Grande Dame Raquel Bitton with pure individuality, distinctive style and her own persona...  Raquel Bitton is the foremost and single most important international singer responsible for reviving the repertoire of Edith Piaf worldwide

 

Bitton… a warm, intelligent, creative, innovative and a  powerful singer! Her personality as a “woman”, as a “human being” is as strong as her voice and visions, if not much stronger, but pleasant, sweet and tender on the inside! When I told Bitton that she had the voice, the physical structure and style of Edith Piaf……….Briton rejected this analogy…and strongly she did! She made it clear to me that she is not Piaf but herself with her own style, artistic interpretation, style autonomy and individuality. She completely distant herself from Piaf! Maybe…perhaps the individuality of her style, her “facon” meaning “her own way of singing” and above all her very strong personality constitute the trilogy of her phenomenal international success. She separates herself from the Piaf's style, from the Piaf's persona, from the Piaf's artistic essence, for the Piaf's  emotional, physical and fashionable/stylish  looks yet, when she appears on stage, a bright nostalgic "photo of Piaf" emerges on the scene...(intentionally or coincidentally, I don't know ), for, the very first thing you notice beside her strong presence IS the dress she wears! A tiny, little back dress, almost authentic to Piaf's dress...Piaf's trademark ...the VERY Piaf's outfit...a black dress imbibed with melancholy and human drama. But, as soon as Bitton begins to sing, the phantom of Piaf is totally removed. And then, you realize that you are in the presence of a remarkable singer, almost as good as Piaf, maybe, just maybe happier, less dramatic but most certainly equally sublime with a "Bitton's style" and a "purely, distinctively Bitton's persona, talent and individual originality.”

 

Bitton wants you to look at her, listen to her majestic voice and REMEMBER that you are looking at a "Bitton" not at a "Piaf", for she honestly and strongly believes she has her own presence, her own style and her own talent. It is true! She does not copy Piaf nor imitate her. And that is the ingredient and factor which define a true, honest, established, accomplished, authentic and original star. And Bitton is most certainly this star! I should have not said that Bitton is Piaf's soul, voice, joy and sorrow. Instead, I should have proclaimed that Bitton's voice belongs to Bitton, that the soul of Bitton has nothing to do with the soul of Piaf. But then, why do we go to listen to Bitton if Bitton did not learn, study, perfect and sing the songs of Piaf? Probably, at the very beginning, if you have not previously heard of Bitton (which will astonish me), you attend Bitton's concert to recapture the moment, the life, the times and the songs of Piaf. But, once, you listen to Bitton, you will return again to Bitton's concerts, for the next time, it would be Bitton and not Piaf. This is how good she is! She is pure divine magic, vocal and musical perfection trapped in a small human body of 5 feet and one inch,  but larger than life and bigger than the universe you live in. I did not really and deeply know Raquel Bitton until I interviewed her.  It was a very controversial yet honest interview. I had a very different image of Bitton, of her character, her personality and “persona”.  A few questions I asked, and a lot of divergences, surprises and unexpected findings I experienced, got and learned from her answers.

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