During a meeting with Brassens and Brel that has gone down in history, when they were asked if they accepted being qualified as poets, Ferré replied: “People who call themselves poets, these are people who are not really poets, deep down. People who are honoured to be called poets are Sunday poets, who have little self-published books... That said, if someone tells me I’m a poet, that’s fine with me. But it’s like someone said that I was a shoemaker who makes beautiful shoes. [...] Brassens said something very true, ‘I put words and music together.’ That’s what I do.” After Georges Brassens, Boris Vian and Barbara, it is Léo Ferré’s turn to be honoured. Claude Mathieu, sociétaire of the Comédie-Française, directs his fellow actors in this staging based on the repertoire of one of the most prolific “chansonniers” of the French scene. “There are people who are receptive to the music first, others who are receptive to the lyrics first”, added Ferré. “The most intelligent people are receptive to the lyrics first. The most sensitive people––and perhaps the least intelligent, which is also possible––are first receptive to the music. Which means that I may have introduced Baudelaire to people who did not know who Baudelaire was.”

Direction artistique : Claude Mathieu
Direction musicale et arrangements : Benoît Urbain
Lumières : Éric Dumas
Vidéo : Matthieu Vassiliev
Collaboration artistique : Nicolas Vassiliev

et avec les musiciens
Benoît Urbain : piano et accordéon
Paul Abirached : guitare
Olivier Moret : contrebasse
Alain Grange : violoncelle