Baudelaire, Ferré, Murat & Morgane

Quote: "I remember I even liked his name, Charles Baudelaire. His name in itself always seemed very poetic to me(...) Like a lot of other classics, you practically have to be an adult to read him." Hear hear, Jean-Louis Murat. I tried reading Charlie too when I was a youngster (along with De Sade, all thanks to an obsession with Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, which wore off eventually), and I still think his name is very poetic. Murat just released an album called Charles & Leo, Charles being Baudelaire, Leo is Leo Ferré. Turns out the old master recorded music to Les Fleurs du Mal by CB, but never finished the album. After his death, Ferré's family pestered Murat about using Leo's music for a project singing Charles' poems. He declined, they persisted. Finally, he gave in: "This year, 2007, marks the 150th anniversary of Baudelaire’s birth so I ended up having to do the album pretty quickly, in the spring." Charles & Leo is an ideal fall-album: darkbrown, deep red, moody, intense, serious. Murat, who worked with Camille, Mylene Farmer and Jennifer Charles, called in singer Morgane Imbeaud (pictured) of folkduo Cocoon for help, she mostly sings backing vocals. But L'héautontimorouménos is a duet. Bonus by the cd is dvd with piano-versions. Equally beautiful. Here's an English translation of L'héautontimorouménos. [Merci Franss]

Jean-Louis Murat & Morgane - L'héautontimorouménos
Jean-Louis Murat & Morgane - L'héautontimorouménos (piano-version)