|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Born in Saigon of
an Italian father and a French mother.
He spent most of
his childhood in Roma, Italia. That is also where he began his career as
a singer in the 70s.
"Bella senz'anima", an extract from his third album "Anima" was his first success. France discovered Cocciante in 1978 with a song called "Marguerite".
Richard Cocciante's records were released in many European countries. The Spanish version of "Bella sin alma" was a huge success in Spain and South America. The next year, the song "Coup de soleil" was another hit. His album "Sincérité", recorded in Los Angeles in 1983 with Toto was recorded in four languages : French, Italian, English and Spanish. Etienne Roda-Gil wrote the original lyrics. In 1985, a duet with Fabienne Thibeault ("Question de feeling") was released. Luc Plamondon wrote the lyrics. Other credits include the album "L'homme qui vole" and the song "Il mio rifugio" in 1988 which became the soundtrack of "Tandem" by Patrice Leconte. Then, Richard Cocciante spent three years in Miami. In 1991, his song "Se stiamo insieme" was rewarded at the San Remo Festival.
In 1992, Catherine
Lara and Luc Plamondon asked Richard to sing as Chopin for their album
"Sand et les Romantiques" and to perform on stage in France and
Montreal. Then, Luc Plamondon proposed him to write an opera together.
In 1993, a new French album "Empreinte" by Richard Cocciante was
released. The lyrics were written by Jean-Paul Dréau, Luc Plamondon,
and Jean-Loup Dabadie. In 1994, after releasing a recording of his best
French songs (500,000 copies were sold), Richard Cocciante had concerts
at the Olympia and Zénith - two famous concert halls in Paris. In
1995, the collaboration between Cocciante and Plamondon was stronger than
ever since they wrote about ten songs together including "L'amour existe
encore" for Céline Dion as well as the album "L'instant présent".
|
PLAMONDON |
 |
Born in Quebec
When he was in highschool
in the late 50s, Luc Plamondon started to write songs and plays. His first
impressive theatre experience was "l'Opéra de quat' sous"
by Brecht and Kurt Weil. He then started to think about working on musical
theatre. As a fan of Presley and Ferré, Tennessee Williams and Jean-Paul
Sartre, he was attracted by New York City and Paris. After studying in
many cities in Europe, he thought about teaching or becoming a journalist
but he kept on writing songs. As a fan of The Rolloing Stones and The Beatles
and American rock bands, he decided that he would write rock songs in French.
Back in Montreal
in 1970, he worked with Diane Dufresne and composer François Cousineau.
He wrote songs for many singers from Quebec such as Fabienne Thibeault,
Nanette Workman, Robert Charlebois, Martine Saint-Clair and Marie Carmen.
He also wrote two rock operas for Diane Dufresne : "Opéra-Cirque",
which premiered in Montreal in 1973, and "Dioxine de Carbone" which
opened in Paris in 1983. His references regarding rock operas are "Hair",
"Tommy", "Ziggy Stardust" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".
In 1978 "Starmania"
was created.
In 1979, he started
to write songs for international singers such as Julien Clerc, Catherine
Lara, Nicole Croisille, Pétula Clarck, Murray Head, Richard Cocciante,
Françoise Hardy, Johnny Hallyday, Régine, Céline Dion,
Gino Vanelli, etc. .
In 1985, he worked
with Barbara on "Lily Passion" and in 1990, "La
Légende de Jimmy" opened in Paris. The show was directed
by Jérôme Savary and featured Diane Tell, Tom Novembre, Renaud
Hantson and Nanette Workman.
In September 1991,
the album "Sand et les Romantiques" featuring Catherine Lara, Véronique
Sanson, Daniel Lavoie and Richard Cocciante was released in Paris. The
show was then premiered at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris and directed
by Alfredo Arias.
Céline Dion's
album "Dion chante Plamondon" was a success in Quebec. It was released
in France in 1993 with another title : "Des mots qui sonnent".
It is also in 1993
that a new production of "Starmania"
opened at the Mogador Theatre in Paris. This production led to the premiere
of the English version created by Tim Rice. "Tycoon"
was presented once a week.
Last update : 15 Apr 1999