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Frida BoccaraFrench pop singer of Jewish origin
Date of Birth: 29.10.1940
Country:  France |
Content:
Biography of Frida Boccara
Early Life and Musical EducationFrida Boccara, a French pop singer of Jewish origin, was born into a Jewish family in Livorno. Music played an important role in Frida's life from an early age. In the Boccara household, there was a creative atmosphere and a love for art. Frida, along with her brother Roger and sister Lina, who also became musicians, eagerly learned music from Italian professor Nino Vernuccio, a student of the renowned pianist, educator, and composer Walter Wilhelm Gieseking. The Boccara family often organized musical evenings where the children enjoyed playing music with their young friends. In an interview, Frida reminisced about her childhood, expressing her love for singing and how she would sing from morning until evening, always closing the windows so as not to disturb the neighbors.
She obtained a bachelor's degree while studying French, Latin, and Greek languages. Simultaneously, she took classical singing lessons from a Russian teacher (mezzo-soprano). During this time, Frida performed a diverse repertoire, ranging from opera arias to popular pop songs. "Le palais de nos chimères" by Charles Aznavour was one of her favorite songs.
Career Beginnings and Success
Frida embarked on her artistic career by forming a trio with her brother and sister. Several of Frida's songs, released on Discos Belter records, were reissued in 2003 on the compilation album Singles Collection: Canta En Español (Audio CD, Spain).
In 1966, Frida Boccara toured the USSR with her program "Les cent et un jours de Paris" and gave a series of successful concerts. Her record sales in the USSR exceeded 1 million copies. Two songs by Soviet composers, sung by Frida in Russian, were released on the album "Poet Frida Boccara" (Melodiya D-20579/80, 1967): 1. "Beliy svet" - music by Oscar Feltsman, lyrics by Mikhail Tanich and Igor Shaferan, and 2. "Nezhnost" - music by Alexandra Pakhmutova, lyrics by Sergey Grebennikov and Nikolay Dobronravov. According to the family's recollections, during Frida's trip organized by the Soviet authorities to the closed city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), she had a friendly meeting with Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, a Soviet cosmonaut and the first person to walk in space. As a souvenir, the cosmonaut presented Frida with a balalaika with his autograph.
After winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969, Frida Boccara embarked on a worldwide concert tour and performed in 50 countries over the course of four years.
Later Career and Classical Influence
In the 1970s, Frida released new albums almost annually, with records being produced in France, Canada, England, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and South Africa. Classical music played a significant role in Frida's work as a singer with excellent musical education. She performed songs based on the works of Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Smetana, Telemann, Beethoven, Corelli, Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Rossini, Grieg, Elgar, and more. A notable example of this direction in her career is the posthumous compilation album "Un Jour On Vit" (CD 1999), which includes several previously unreleased works by Frida.
In Canada, she performed accompanied by the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, consisting of one hundred musicians, under the direction of Pierre Dervaux. Her albums were released in large quantities. Additionally, a double album titled "Place des Arts '71" (live in Montreal) was also released.
