Armand Mestral
Known as much as an actor as a singer, Armand Mestral was born in Paris on November 25, 1917. His real name was Armand Serge Zelikson, son of a Russian émigré sculptor and a draughtswoman, and he grew up with his half-sister Irénée Rochard, who would go on to make a name for herself in animal sculpture. An operatic singer with a bass voice when he first appeared at the Théâtre de la Gaïté-Lyrique, Armand Mestral appeared in Franz Lehár's operettas Le Pays du sourire and Maurice Yvain's Chanson gitane, where he scored his first success in 1946 with the aria "Jalousie". He turned to song via the cabaret circuit, making covers of French refrains and American melodies his specialty. He recorded "Ma cabane au Canada" (1948) as well as "Jézabel", "Mississippi", "Seize tonnes" and "Les Enchaînés", adaptations of "Jezebel", "Ol' Man River", "Sixteen Tons " and "Unchained Melody", respectively, which were popular on the other side of the Atlantic. Between several opera excerpts, he also included two arias from the film La Strada, "Gelsomina" and "La Strada (Le Grand chemin)". His repertoire continued to expand in the 1950s and 1960s, when he covered traditional country songs, French chanson classics on the albums Chansons de Toujours (1954) and Les Chansons Immortelles (1964), Christmas carols and opera arias, under the direction of orchestras such as Eugène Bigot, Paul Durand, Marcel Cariven and Pierre Dervaux. At the same time, Armand Mestral pursued an acting career, starring in René Clément's Gervaise (1956), for which he sang the title song, Jean-Paul Le Chanois' Mandrin, bandit genthilhomme (1962), Philippe Fourastié's La Bande à Bonnot, Edouard Molinaro's Mon oncle Benjamin (1969) and Alexandre Arcady's Le Grand Pardon 1 (1982). He also took part in the TV series Les Cinq dernières minutes, Les Brigades du Tigre and Les Enquêtes du commissaire Maigret. Retired from filming after Le Grand Pardon 2 (1992), Armand Mestral died in Paris on September 17, 2000, aged 82.
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Chansons Immortelles De France
Pop - Released by Rendez-Vous Digital on 1 Jan 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les 100 titres d'or: Intégrale 1942-1956
French Music - Released by Marianne Mélodie on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Armand mestral anthologie vol 1
Retro French Music - Released by Rym musique on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chansons de toujours (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les Allobroges
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 8 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Armand mestral anthologie vol 3
Retro French Music - Released by Rym musique on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sambre-et-Meuse (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Armand mestral anthologie vol 2
Retro French Music - Released by Rym musique on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les Allobroges
Pop - Released by Platin Classics Music on 8 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ma geisha (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Armand Mestral, no. 3 (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chansons immortelles (feat. Marcel Cariven et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Romances russes (Mono version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Souvenez-vous mama (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chansons de toujours, no. 6 (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Noël, no. 3 (feat. Marcel Cariven et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
Christmas Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
La strada (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Armand Mestral, no. 1 (feat. Jo Boyer et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Du haut du Sacré-Cœur (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Plaine, ma plaine / Jalousie (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chansons immortelles (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo