Photo by laurence Labot. Michel Legrand.

Published on: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

By David Cannon, Sentinel Arts Critic

Really, it is not fair that someone can be as talented as Michel Legrand, who performed at Strathmore Music Center last weekend. There really ought to be a law.

The thing is, while everyone knows the name, it is easy to forget what all Legrand has accomplished. The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) reveals that Legrand has written nearly 200 film scores, ranging from the completely sung movie musical “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” to popular favorites like “Brian’s Song.” He has recorded numerous jazz albums, conducted orchestras, is a decent singer and plays piano very well. He has won three Oscars, five Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, even a Tony nomination.

There really ought to be a law – maybe several laws.

For his two-hour plus concert at Strathmore, Legrand gave us just a sliver of his output, and one went away wanting more. Backed by a trio of musicians, Legrand did several jazz improvisational numbers.  The little “Family Fugue” in the first half began as a classical style fugue (and showed off Legrand’s formidable piano technique) and then drifted off into a jazz riff with the full quartet, and then returned to its classical starting point.

All the performers were good, but bass player Gregory Morency did an exceptional job in his solos.

Then there was special guest Catherine Michel, harp soloist from the Opera de Paris. The harp is a very difficult instrument to play but Michel did an excellent job. Her work highlighted the some of the many movie soundtracks composed by Legrand. There was a suite of tunes from the film “Yentl” — not only did Legrand write that score but he won an Academy Award for it. Later Michel returned for a rendition of that achingly nostalgic music from “Summer of 42.” Yes. Michel Legrand wrote the score for that one also.

The concert ended with another guest, Canadian singer Mario Pelchat, who was in fine voice that evening. There was a humorous scat singing “competition” between Legrand and Pelchat at one point, but Pelchat’s emphasized the hit songs that have come from Legrand’s pen. There was of course the lovely ballad “I Will Wait for You” that became such a big hit after it appeared in “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” There was also “The Windmills of your Mind,” the Academy Award winning song from his score for the film “The Thomas Crown Affair.”  

To top it off, it seems that Legrand seems to be a totally ego-less performer, full of gentle and self-depreciating humor in his banter between numbers. He was talking at one point about a film he did called “The Happy Times,” that he insisted only 21 people ever saw, and then did an impromptu polling of the audience. Then he performed an excerpt from the movie soundtrack – the song “What are you doing for the Rest of your life.”

Why can’t I have a few failures like that?

4 stars