Aznavour Minnelli: Paris, Palais des Congrès

Aznavour Minnelli: Paris, Palais des Congrès is a 1995 live album featuring the performers Charles Aznavour and Liza Minnelli, recorded at the Palais des congrès de Paris. ^[1]

The album features two full sets from the performers, with Minnelli and Aznavour also performing together on several tracks.

Reception

The Allmusic review by William Ruhlmann awarded the album 4 stars stating "After some slightly comic business at the top and a couple of duets on Aznavour's "The Sound of Your Name" and "Mon Emouvant Amour," he takes over for the rest of the first disc, singing many of his familiar self-written songs. The two singers do some jazz scatting at the start of the second disc ("Pour Faire une Jam"), and then Minnelli holds the stage alone for 12 numbers that include her greatest hits old and new ("Cabaret," "New York, New York," the Pet Shop Boys' disco arrangement of Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind"), the title song from her then-new movie, Stepping Out, and some special material worked up for the French audience, notably Aznavour's "Sailor Boys" (sung in English) and "J'ai Deux Amours" ("I Have Two Loves," these being "mon pays [my country] and Paris"). Happily, she and Aznavour then team up for a 15-minute, 14-song medley of pop standards, ending, inevitably, with "Le Temps." There's little here one hasn't heard before from Aznavour and Minnelli, so the best moments are the ones when they work together. ".^[2]

Track listing

1. Prologue" – 1:40
2. "Sound of Your Name" (Charles Aznavour, Herbert Kretzmer) – 4:31
3. "Mon Emouvant Amour" (Aznavour) – 5:51
4. "Les Comediens" (Aznavour, Jacques Plante) – 3:14
5. "Sa Jeunesse" (Aznavour) – 4:58
6. "Napoli Chante" (Aznavour, Georges Garvarentz) – 5:16
7. "Vous et Tu" (Aznavour) – 3:54
8. "La Marguerite" (Aznavour, Garvarentz) – 5:04
9. "Tu T'Laisses Aller" (Aznavour) – 4:08
10. "Non Je N'Ai Rien Oublie" (Aznavour, Garvarentz) – 6:42
11. "Je Bois" (Aznavour, Garvarentz) – 3:37
12. "Comme Ils Disent" (Aznavour) – 4:41
13. "Les Plaisirs Demodes" (Aznavour, Garvarentz) – 4:30
14. "La Boheme" (Aznavour, Plante) – 5:23
15. "Je M'Voyais Dejav" (Aznavour) – 5:33
16. "Pour Faire une Jam" (Aznavour) – 6:41
17. "Bonjour Paris" (Roger Edens, Kay Thompson) – 3:04
18. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog, Jr., Billie Holiday) – 3:28
19. "Old Friend" (Stephen Sondheim) – 3:04
20. "Liza with a Z" (Fred Ebb, John Kander) – 3:48
21. "Sailor Boys" (Aznavour, Kretzmer) – 5:12
22. "Some People" (Sondheim, Jule Styne) – 3:53
23. "J'Ai Deux Amours" (Georges Koger, John Murray, Vincent Scotto, Barry Trivers, Henri Eugene Vantard) – 5:02
24. "Stepping Out" (Ebb, Kander) – 7:54
25. "Losing My Mind" (Sondheim) – 4:07
26. "I Love a Piano" (Irving Berlin) – 6:52
27. "Cabaret" (Ebb, Kander) – 3:56
28. "Theme from New York, New York" (Ebb, Kander) – 4:18
29. "Medley" – 15:43

Personnel

• Charles Aznavour - vocals
• Liza Minnelli - vocals

References