The commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the D’eux album, considered by some to be Jean-Jacques Goldman’s masterpiece in the service of Céline Dion, was certainly sympathetic for anyone who attended the event, and galvanizing for the vast majority of die-hard fans, but will not go down in history.
The resources employed were commensurate with a show scheduled for two performances (the next is scheduled for July 13 at the Festival d’été de Québec), and certainly too limited to produce a signature show worthy of a modern-day pop extravaganza.
Excerpts from recordings of interviews from the era could compensate a little for the absence of the main players on this album, considered historic in the Franco pop corpus, but the immersive technologies we’re entitled to in pop culture today are nothing like what we were treated to at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on Sunday. Beautiful lighting, tilted stage, center aisle, excellent musical direction by keyboardist Alex Mc Mahon, excellent execution by the musicians, effective staging by Benoît Rioux and that’s quite a lot.
Naturally, Céline fans cheered the voices invited to this non-sectarian, non-ageist celebration: Martine St-Clair, Ariane Roy, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Safia Nolin, Rita Baga (Jean-François Guèvremont), Brigitte Boisjoli and Marie Denise Pelletier take part in D’eux, 30 ans déjà: célébrons Céline, soon to be reprised at the Festival d’été de Québec.
Among the songs in the repertoire, On ne change pas was opened by the young trio of Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Ariane Roy and Safia Nolin. J’irai où tu iras in trio by Martine St-Clair, Marie Denise Pelletier and Louis-Jean Cormier, playing the role of Jean-Jacques Goldman.
Regarde-moi and Prière païenne were sung by Brigitte “100,000 volts” Boisjoli and dedicated to her father La mémoire d’Abraham. S’il suffisait d’aimer and Vole were covered by Safia Nolin, J’irai où tu iras and Destin were sung by Ariane Roy, Je sais pas and Le ballet by Martine St-Clair, Dans un autre monde by Rita Baga Tout l’or des hommes and Pour que tu m’aimes encore, the absolute hit of this opus, by Lou-Adriane Cassidy. The evening ended in a chorus-karaoke with Luc Plamondon’s L’amour existe encore, which, as we all know, does not appear on the album trentenaire.
In the winter of 1995, I was in New York to report on Céline Dion’s American conquest, spending several days with Céline and René, who gave me an exclusive listen to D’eux in their limousine. I remember it like it was yesterday!
That first listen led me to conclude without a doubt that this was the singer’s best album to date, in any language, and… never bettered since. As far as I’m concerned, Céline has never done better, in French or in English, which says a lot about her lack of artistic direction throughout her career, despite her colossal successes. Three decades on, this recording remains her supreme signature as a performer, a must-have for French pop, and a more-than-correct album in the international pop songbook. Nevertheless, we understand and respect the admiration of Quebec fans, for whom the singer is a powerful source of pride… and maybe we’ll talk again on the album’s fiftieth anniversary.
Photo : Frédérique Ménard
