She Played the Last Silent Film - La Pianiste du Cinéma Muet, Paris 1929 | French Female Vocals

La Pianiste du Cinéma Muet — one rainy night in October 1929, when Odette, a young pianist who accompanies silent films in a small Montparnasse picture palace, plays her last evening before the theatre is wired for talkies. The boulevard du Montparnasse in the rain, the marquee of the Cinéma des Étoiles blinking over a poster for a talking picture, old Madame Rose's sugared almond at the ticket window, usherettes in red jackets with their torches, the old upright piano under a green-shaded lamp in the pit, Marcel signalling from the projection booth as he has for ten years without ever telling her he loves her, the first beam on the screen, a Pathé newsreel and a brisk march, the forgotten star Irène Vallier in the third row, an improvisation for a moonlit kiss, the film burning in the gate while Odette plays on in the dark, rain drumming on the marquee like applause, the man from the bal musette offering her fox-trots, the last reel, Irène rising in the dark to mouth her old lines, the audience applauding toward the pit, the empty hall and its red seats, Marcel coming down the stairs with bandaged fingers and the charred frame of the kiss, goodbye to the piano in the pit — and dawn on the boulevard du Montparnasse, refusing the dance-hall man and walking away beside Marcel into the grey silent morning. The set plays through twice, so put it on and leave it running. No talking, no ads inside the mix, no interruptions. Sung in French: soprano over strings, grand piano, soft harp and distant bells. Tracks 🎹: 0:00 Octobre sur le Boulevard 4:18 L'Enseigne sous la Pluie 8:21 Madame Rose au Guichet 12:26 Les Ouvreuses aux Lampes de Poche 16:23 La Fosse du Piano 19:59 Marcel Près du Faisceau 23:42 Le Premier Rayon sur l'Écran 27:51 Les Actualités Pathé 31:44 Mademoiselle Irène au Troisième Rang 35:28 Improvisation pour un Baiser 39:41 La Pellicule Brûle 43:15 La Pluie sur la Marquise 47:24 L'Homme du Bal Musette 50:59 La Dernière Bobine 54:48 Irène Se Lève dans le Noir 59:15 Trois Lettres Blanches sur l'Écran 1:03:18 La Salle Vide et les Fauteuils Rouges 1:07:27 Marcel Descend l'Escalier 1:11:12 Adieu au Piano de la Fosse 1:15:12 L'Aube sur le Boulevard du Montparnasse 1:19:20 Repeat 🎧 Subscribe for more: 👉 /@frenchsongbook Would you have taken the job playing fox-trots? Tell me below 👇 #frenchmusic #chanson #paris1929 #studymusic #workmusic