La Goulue
by
Toulouse-Lautrec
The theater was founded in 1888 by Joseph Oller, who was also the creator of the Moulin Rouge. It was inaugurated with a performance of La Goulue, one of the can-can dancers most popular in its time.
Until the early 1950s were very different performances (performances by singers, ballet, circus, opera, cinema, etc.). In the early 1950 the theater was rebuilt by Jacques Haik, who also was the owner of the Grand Rex, one of the most important theaters of Paris. The main objective was to ensure that the theater has the best acoustics possible. Once the works, the composer Bruno Coquatrix was hired as director, which would remain in office until his death in 1979.
In 1961, dith Piaf, at the request of Bruno Coquatrix, offers a series of concerts, perhaps the most memorable and emotional of his career, at the Olympia in Paris, the local was under threat of extinction due to financial problems. It is in this, his favorite entertainment hall, which introduced the song Non, je ne rien regrettable that perfectly fits your person and that she composed for Charles Dumont. This saves the Olympia Bruno Coquatrix and remains eternally grateful.
The Beatles
Bruno Coquatrix became very professional prestige, because it was considered bold and I had very good criterion, since they do not hesitate to hire little-known singers who would become famous after his performance in the Olympia, as Georges Brassens or Jacques Brel, and also to other already established as Frank Sinatra or the Egyptian singer Umm Kalzum, which was practically unknown in Western countries, but very popular in the Arabic world, to the point that his cachet was the highest in the world, so its supposed contratacion a significant economic risk (his concerts in Paris in 1967 were the only ones in a Western country). Also at Olympia was where The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, both in 1964, made his first major concert outside England. Bruno Coquatrix was criticized in his time, by stating his preference for British pop music and not the French, because I thought that overall, the French singers were more notable in the genre of the chanson, and not pop.
While initially the theater was well known in France, but not internationally in the 1960s became a place of transit practically forced into the career of a singer or band in popular music. This situation continued until the late 1970s, when the concert stopped being something exceptional, to become the norm, as the Olympia has only about 2000 locations. However, it still has great performances, like that of The Rolling Stones in 1995 and remains a very popular place for its acoustics, especially for recording live concerts. In 1993, the Minister of Culture Jack Lang in the theater include Heritage French.
The international press was present when in 2007, Paul McCartney and his band did a concert at the legendary theater.
Get more:
- The Voice: Frank Sinatra on Columbia 6-Eye Label by Frank Sinatra (LP Record) - Original recording
- The Sinatra Treasures: Intimate Photos, Mementos, and Music from the Sinatra Family Collection by Charles Pignone, Frank Sinatra, and Quincy Jones (Hardcover - Oct 15, 2004)
- Frank Sinatra (Demonstration Record) by Frank Sinatra (LP Record)
