So Long, Farewell

When Charles Aznavour sings “Yesterday When I Was Young” at Radio City Music Hall on September 18 and 19 in the last two concerts he will ever give in New York City, the audience will likely be weeping. Aznavour, who has nurtured a passionate fan base all over the world, is 82 years old — and though he is ready to say goodbye, those fans don’t want him to go.

Armenian by birth and French by attitude, this iconoclastic songwriter/singer never succumbed to the entreaties of American record executives who urged him to write simpler pop songs. His lyrics are rich and colorful, and his music is vibrant, no matter if the song in question is a melancholy ballad or a driving, up-tempo declaration of life. The composer of nearly 1,000 songs, Aznavour will be hard-pressed to choose among them for his final New York concerts; the audience will want to hear so many more than he could possibly perform.

We recently called Aznavour in Paris and spoke with him about his farewell tour. He was open and candid about what is sure to be a memorable experience.

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THEATERMANIA: How will you design your song list? Will it be different than other shows because this is your farewell concert?

CHARLES AZNAVOUR: It’s going to be what you call “The Best Of.” I’m going to sing what the public wants to hear. Why sing new songs? People sing new songs when they have something to promote. I’m not promoting anything. I’m just coming to say, “That’s it.”

TM: Are you still writing new songs?

CA: Yes, but I don’t think the public wants to hear something new when I’m coming for the last time.

TM: Do you realize the impact you’ve had on people’s lives?

CA: It touches me very much. I’m very moved by that. But the impact comes from the songs. The entertainer in me is less happy than the writer in me.

TM: When you were last in New York, you spoke on stage about a musical you were writing. Whatever became of that?

CA: Right now the producer is trying to find the money to present it in Canada. It played in Germany and in Hungary. It has been translated into English but it hasn’t been done in France — not yet. Meanwhile, there’s an American producer working on a show about the songs I’ve done. The same thing is happening in other countries. I have the funny feeling that I’m beginning to be “recognized.” “Known” and “recognized” are two different words. “Known” is people come to see you as an entertainer; “recognized” comes from what I have written and what I have done.

TM: Are you retiring because of your health?

CA: I feel well, but I don’t know what condition I will be in in a few years. I’m 82 and it’s time to retire slowly but surely. What I prefer to do is to write. I write every day of my life. I will never be bored. When I end my performing career, I will write plays and musicals.

TM: What happens after your New York concerts?

CA: I will go to a few more cities in America; then I will start my farewell tour in Spanish. I will also go to Armenia and Japan. The last shot will be in French. A good farewell concert Tour should take four years, at least.

TM: Since the final concerts will be in French, will you come back to North America to perform in Quebec?

CA: Yes, I will go back to the French part of Canada for the French part of the tour. But I will not come back in English. English is not the easiest for me.

TM: Edith Piaf sang “Non, je ne regrette rien.” Do you have any regrets?

CA: I have no regrets. I did more than what I ever dreamed I would do in my life. I had a very difficult beginning — very difficult. But once I got going, I never went down after that. I’ve been blessed.