Olympia (Paris)
The Olympia is a music hall on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
The first Olympic
By Joseph Oller built in 1888 ( the founder of the Moulin Rouge), the Olympia, the oldest surviving Music Hall in Paris. The concert hall was opened under the name Montagnes Russes ( roller coaster ) on April 12, 1889, but soon renamed Olympia. Today one can easily see the large, white letters on a red background on the facade of 1893, above the entrance.
From the largest French diva of the era, the singer and dancer La Goulue, inaugurated on April 12, 1893, the Olympic soon received the greatest French artist of that time, such as Mistinguett, Marie Dubas, Frehel, Joséphine Baker, Damia and Yvonne Printemps.
In addition to music and singing a wide range of other events took place, circuses occurred, ballets and operettas were staged here. However, when the time of the big stars was over, the hall was converted in 1929 into a profitable cinema.
The Olympia Bruno Coquatrix
After the Second World War, Bruno Coquatrix took over 1952 Olympics and set it out again. The function room was re-consecrated on 5 February 1954 after he had remained for 25 years unused. On this occasion, Gilbert Becaud was as Vorkünstler for Lucienne Delyle for the first time an impressive performance at the Olympia. In the following years it has seen all the famous world stars. Édith Piaf achieved from January 1955 through her regular appearances until October 1962 worldwide fame, particularly the 3-month performance in 1958 was memorable. From 5 to their local appearances, there are live recordings.
Forty years later the building was threatened with demolition. In its place, a parking garage to be built, but on 7 January 1993, the French Minister of Culture Jack Lang declared the Olympic National Cultural Heritage. As a result, the facade and the magnificent red interior were restored in two years of construction.
First address for concerts
Among the French ( and Belgian ) artists who gave concerts in this hall, the following deserve special attention: Charles Aznavour, Adamo, Barbara, Gilbert Becaud, Lucienne Boyer, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Dalida, Jacques Dutronc, Léo Ferré, Claude François, France Gall, Garou, Juliette Greco, Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, Patricia Kaas, Helmut Lotti, Enrico Macias, Mireille Mathieu, Édith Piaf, Axelle Red, Renaud, Tino Rossi, Jean Sablon, Émilie Simon, Alan Stivell, Anne Sylvestre, Charles Trenet, Sylvie Vartan and Grégory Lemarchal, who named his first live album by the hall.
The Olympics marked in addition to French-Canadian singer a stage in their ladder of success, including Robert Charlebois, Monique Leyrac, Céline Dion, Daniel Lavoie and Roch Voisine.
Also, singers and musicians from the Maghreb and the Arab world came to the Olympia: Oum Kalthoum and Fairuz.
Other artists came from the United States, Canada, the UK and the rest of the world. Concerts these international stars attributed here music history: Louis Armstrong, David Bowie, James Brown, Jeff Buckley, Ray Charles, Petula Clark, Connie Francis, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Maria Farantouri, Judy Garland, Bill Haley (his 1958 concert is now published on CD), Jimi Hendrix, Julio Iglesias, Lili Ivanova, Madonna, Mahalia Jackson, Quincy Jones, Janis Joplin, Mary Roos, Lokua Kanza, Diana Krall, Frédérik Mey, Scorpions, Herman van Veen, van Morrison, Olivera Katarina, Nana Mouskouri, Tereza Kesovija, Roy Orbison, Luciano Pavarotti, Otis Redding, Frank Sinatra, Mikis Theodorakis, Caterina Valente, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Mika, David Gilmour, Dave Gahan (2004 on the DVD Live Monsters published ) last but not least the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and more here.
Special appearances
Édith Piaf The history is closely linked with that of Olympias. Just two months before she was dying of cancer, she gave one of her most memorable concerts in which she could only with difficulty keep upright in pain.
Even Jacques Brel's farewell to the stage is generally associated with his last appearance at the Olympia in October 1966. In fact, the concert was however the premiere of his farewell tour, which ended on May 16, 1967 in Roubaix.
On October 19, 1955 Sidney Bechet gave a free concert at the Olympia; The occasion was his millionth selling album on the Vogue label, for which he received a gold disc. 5000 fans wanted to attend the concert, but only about half found intake. The hall was demolished by the disappointed fans, there were ten injuries and damages in the amount of two million ( old ) francs. The event went as a Le soir où l' on Cassa l' Olympia ( " The evening on which the Olympics was shattered " ) in the story.