Customer Reviews
The very best of French music if you are in a mood for nostalgia - By: PAUL MCCUE, 21 Nov 2007 
I only realised that Charles Trenet was the singer of such classics as La Mer when he died. I am not of his era, but I bought the CD & it is superb. I can put it onin the car,in the middle of stalled traffic, & be transported to the French countryside. And my 3 year old daughter also fellin love with it.
Do you love music ? - By: , 23 Mar 2002 If you love music of any kind you will love this CD. Most people will vaguely know of Charles Trenent from the classic & uplifting "La Mer", or more recently from the Peugeot TV advert which features "Le Jardin Extraordinaire". Over recent years I was aware of Charles Trenent from Michael Parkinson's wonderful Radio 4 Programme of timeless recordings of artists from the last 70 years; from Al Bowlly & Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin, to Scott Walker & even Robbie Williams & George Michael. Charles Trenent is a treasure known to the French nation for the last 70 years; listen to this CD, & see what we poor, blinkered Britons have been missing all these years. This is the perfect introduction to the music of Charles Trenent, brought to us via the wonders of modern digital music technology.
Essential for nostalgia addicts - By: , 15 Jan 2001 Few people these days will have heard of Charles Trenet. I for one plead to ignorance until recently, when I was enlightened by Nicola & Martin, owners of "Volare", our wonderful local Mediterranean restaurant where I first heard some of this CD! Actually, "Boum" has featured fairly recentlyin a UK TV ad for private healthcare & is most likely to ring bells if nothing else does. Perhaps, like me, you'd heard it but not known who the performer was.
Either way, delve beyond the joie-de-vivre, humour & vocal gymnastics of "Boum", & other facets of Trenet's artistic personality emerge, too. Far from being a mere amateur singer (as Maurice Chevalier apparently rather disparagingly described him) Trenet is as much a poet as a songwriter & performer (the term "singer" is inadequate, as you'll hear).
I second another reviewer's comment that this CD contains much that is the perfect antidote to melancholy. But some of the songs could bring a lump to your throat, too; listen carefully to "Que-Reste-T-Il-De Nos Amours", or the lilting "La Maison Du Poete" & you'll know what I mean. There's depth & feeling here, as well as fun.
The sound quality is fresh & where it's been transcribed from the old 78 rpm recordings the process has been executed well, & fortunately without the nasty, dead-sounding CEDAR noise reduction process being applied.
An irresistably French CD, obviously written & performed with much love & enthusiasm, & highly recommended to anyone with a soft spot for French music & (idiosyncratic? well, sometimes) nostalgia.
The joy of listening to Charles Trenet - By: , 14 Dec 2000 Sufferers of SAD this is for you, you cannot but feel uplifted when listening to Charles Trenet. His music is sunny & light, the words full of fantasy & sunshine. Take a glass of red wine, preferably from the Languedoc, turn on your brightest light & relax, delightin the French charm of Charles Trenet. Nothing better for a dark winter day! Try his Greatest Recordings 1937-1943 & listen to songs like 'Vous oubliez votre cheval'.Mad & full of fun!
