Berthe Sylva

A symbol of French realist song, Berthe Sylva is best known for her rendition of the classic "Les Roses blanches". Born in Lambézellec, Finistère, on February 7, 1885, Berthe Francine Ernestine Faquet (real name) had a poor childhood, working as a chambermaid before turning to song in 1908 at the Casino Saint-Martin, then at the Casino Montparnasse and Casino Montmartre in Paris. Between tours of Algiers, where she performed a realistic repertoire including "Chant en l'honneur des morts de l'armée d'Afrique", Berthe Sylva sang for the soldiers of the First World War. Noticed by accordionist Léon Raiter at the Caveau de la République (Paris), she made her debut on Radio Tour Eiffel in 1928, and enjoyed great success with her interpretation of the song "Les Roses blanches", created in 1926 by Fred Gouin, with whom she shared the stage or the record ("Ferme tes jolis yeux"), as well as her life. While the French music-hall classic remains the title with which she is associated, the singer also recorded 250 songs for the Ideal and Odeon labels, including lighter numbers such as "Fleur de musette " (1928), "Frou-frou" and "C'est mon gigolo " (1930) and "On n'a pas tous les jours vingt ans" (1935). His other period hit, "Le Raccommodeur de faïence" (1929), led to phenomenal sales and tours of the French provinces after his Parisian appearances at Concert Pacra, L'Européen, Ba-Ta-Clan and Gaîté Montparnasse. At the height of her fame, Berthe Sylva caused quite a stir right up to the outbreak of the Second World War. Settling in Marseille in 1940, she sank into alcoholism and died in poverty on May 24, 1941, at the age of 56.

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