Frida Boccara

Biography

Danielle Frida Hélène Boccara (29 October 1940 – 1 August 1996) was a French singer of Italian descent, who performed and recorded in a number of languages, including French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Dutch and Russian.

Early life

Boccara was born in Casablanca, Morocco, into a Jewish family of Italian origin that lived in Tunisia before they settled in Morocco. When she was 17, she moved from Casablanca to Paris, France, where she eventually started her artistic career as a singer. Boccara also had a brother and a sister in show business, composers Jean-Michel Braque (born Roger Boccara) and Lina Boccara. Her son, Tristan Boccara, was born in the mid-1970s and also became a singer known by the stage name Goldinski (he is also a composer, pianist and arranger)

Career

In 1964, Boccara had submitted the song "Autrefois" ("In the past") to the French Eurovision Song Contest selection panel, but she was unsuccessful. Five years later, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, held in Madrid, Spain, she represented France performing "Un jour, un enfant×Un jour, un enfant1969 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracksA1Un jour, un enfant2:42A2Les Moulins de mon cœur2:34A3Brandy ("Brandy Is My True Love's Name")3:10A4Belle du Luxembourg3:45A5Ohe-o-ohe1:20A6Il faut te décider3:16B1Cent mille chansons2:47B2L'Enfant aux cymbales (D'après "Jésus que ma joie demeure")2:56B3Ballade de Lady Jane ("My Love Doesn't Love Me at All")3:08B4Autrefois2:45B5L'Île nue2:25B6Johnny jambe de bois1:55B7Un pays pour nous ("Somewhere")2:50" ("A day, a child") – with music by Émile Stern and text by Eddy Marnay. Her song shared first place along with the entries from the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain, the first and last time more than one country was declared the winner.
Songwriter Eddy Marnay was her professional partner (most of the songs performed by Boccara were written by him), but she also performed songs composed by Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Charles Aznavour, Émile Stern, Michel Legrand, Michel Magne, Nino Rota and Mikis Theodorakis.
"Cent mille chansons" ("A hundred thousand songs") was recorded in 1968 and earned her a gold disc, while "Un jour, un enfant" (1969) earned her a platinum disc and "Pour vivre ensemble" ("To live together", 1971) earned her another gold. Other of her famous songs include "Cherbourg avait raison" (1961), "Aujourd'hui" (1965), "Les moulins de mon cœur" (1969), "L'enfant aux cymbales" (1969), "Belle du Luxembourg" (1969), "La croix, l'étoile et le croissant" (1970), "Venise va mourir" (1970), "Trop jeune ou trop vieux" (1971), "Valdemosa" (1976), "L'année où Piccoli jouait Le choses de la vie" (1978), "Un monde en sarabande×Un monde en sarabande1 January 1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Un monde en sarabande4:052La prière4:023Land of Hope and Glory4:064Le temps ne vieillit pas2:575Tourterelle2:556Jesus bleibet meine Freude3:307Dear Father3:378Le soleil tremble2:399Waltzing Matilda4:0810La chanson que j'aime entendre4:0311Cent mille chansons3:2212Wiegenlied2:22" (1979) and "La prière" (1979). In the late 1960s, she also recorded "Un pays pour nous", a song that was a French version of "Somewhere" (from the musical West Side Story). Leonard Bernstein, who composed the original melody, declared that Boccara's version was his favorite.

Later years and death

Boccara renewed her links with Eurovision by participating in the French national finals of 1980 – performing "Un enfant de France" – and 1981 – with "Voilà comment je t'aime". However, neither song was selected. She died in 1996 in Paris, France, aged 55, from a pulmonary infection, after a decline in health.