Carousel: The Songs of Jacques Brel

Dark, brooding Jacques Brel is the perfect choice for a haunting Hallowe’en

Jacques Brel would have turned 80 this year, and to commemorate this occasion the Barbican hosts Carousel – The Songs of Jacques Brel, a show featuring six very different performers paying homage to one of the greatest songwriters of the twentieth century.

Born in Belgium in 1929, Brel left for Paris in 1953, where he began a career singing at cabaret shows. He quickly gained recognition for his intelligent wordplay, dynamic performance, and lyrics which spoke of social injustice as well as melancholy love stories. His untimely death at the age of 49 cemented his legendary status and his songs have been translated into English and sung by some of the worlds most illustrious performers: David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Marlene Dietrich, Natacha Atlas, Scott Walker…the list goes on.

Tonight Marc Almond, Camille O’Sullivan, and lesser known performers Diamanda Galas, Arno, Momus and Arthur H take on Brel’s most popular songs.  Organiser and Musical Director David Coulter selected these artists for having included Brel’s songs in their repertoire, with Almond most notably having recorded ‘Jacques’ in 1989, an album of reworked Brel songs. A brass section, strings, vibraphone, harp, Roger Eno on piano and the crazy-haired Jazz drummer and Mercury award nominee Seb Rochford make up the orchestra tonight.

Scottish performer Momus takes to the stage to open with perhaps Brel’s most famous song: Don’t Leave Me originally titled Ne Me Quitte Pas. His performance is shy to begin with, however he appears to grow in confidence by the time he energetically delivered the tragic-comical Bourgeouis Pigs which Brel wrote as a critique of those that made him successful.

The next performer is French singer Arthur H, who is renowned in France for his modern take on chanson. In his broken English he explains to the audience the lyrics to Madeleine a song about a boy that waits for a girl called Madeline at the cinema for hours before admitting she won’t show up. Rather than give up hope and forget about her, he decides to return the following week at the same time with a bunch of flowers to see if she will be there. This sweetly sad song is an up-tempo number which Monsieur H croons to an enthralled audience.

The Gothic-looking Greek singer Diamanda Galas performs La Chanson Des Vieux Amants, Fernand and Amsterdam in overly dramatic, semi-operatic tones as she pounds the grand piano. Her vocal stylings do not go down well as boos echo around the Barbican Hall after her second song along with mutterings of “who is she?!” However as her piano playing is faultless the resentment could be attributed to her slightly intimidating stage presence.

Witnessing the Second World War and the Algerian war deeply affected Brel and inspired much of his work. Au Suivant tells the tale of a young man entering the army and losing his innocence. Tonight Camille O’Sullivan - who performed to a packed out auditorium every night throughout this year’s Edinburgh Festival - delivers an emotional rendition where she practically cries out the verse ‘Next!’ and falls to the floor in despair at the end.

O’Sullivan’s heart-wrenching performance is a tough one to follow, and the growling Arno falls short. His deep voice and slightly drunken swagger are the low point in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable show. It doesn’t help that he hasn’t memorised any of the words and constantly has to refer to his lyric sheet.

Marc Almond gets things back on track by performing The Devil OK, I’m Coming and Carousel, in semi-theatrical mode. The final song is Jacky performed by Almond, O’Sullivan and Momus, three exceptional performers who appear to have as much fun on stage together as the audience does watching.

A standing applause at the end confirmed that the show - despite seeming at times a little frivolous - managed to bring together some standout performances from Arthur H, O’Sullivan, Almond, and Momus. A pleasing introduction into the oeuvre of the French troubadour.


The festivities in honour of Jacques Brel continue with Jacques Brel: Music Hall Master on Friday 29th October, Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley Off Ensign Street, E1 8JB. www.barbican.org.uk/