The actress Macha Méril, the wife of the French composer Michel Legrand who died on the 26th of January last, has just declared to our colleagues in the Paris “she wants to create a festival dedicated to musicals and film music to continue his work.”

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To live the legacy of the famous creator of the themes of the Umbrellas of Cherbourg and young girls of Rochefort , the actress said “that it was going to start with Stéphane Lerouge, the biographer of Michel, a festival dedicated to musicals and film music. The idea appealed a lot to Michel. He wanted neither a museum nor a school. He wanted the music alive”.Decided to carry out its projects, drum-beating, Macha Méril added: “I hope to hold the first next year, at the beautiful days”.

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The actress, now aged 78, has also stated that it would “create a foundation in his name.” “He had this house in Montargis, of which I would like to make a small Villa Medici, with a concert hall, recording, cinema, accommodation for the musicians,” she added, specifying that it was “a long-term project”.

Brigitte Macron supports the ambition of Macha Méril

She also noted that the partitions of her husband, a musician, three-time oscar winner, were going to be scanned. “It is a treasure. I am aided by the ministry of Culture and by Brigitte Macron which I was received at the Elysée palace and who has understood that there had been a small injustice around Michel”, she added.

Michel Legrand, one of the masters of film music with Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota and François de Roubaix, whose career of over 50 years has earned him an international reputation, unfortunately left us on January 26 at the age of 86 years. Musician, jack-of-all, supremely talented, has worked with the biggest filmmakers and musicians, from Ray Charles to Orson Welles, as well as Jean Cocteau, Frank Sinatra, Charles Trenet and Edith Piaf. It is with this dual as a monument of the cinema and French song. A monument and a work of art that Macha Méril wants to protect.

Le Figaro present in the video, below, two masterpieces by Michel Legrand, the music of the film The Thomas Crown affair and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Michel Legrand musician in the film The Thomas Crown affair with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway

Michel Legrand, musician of the Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy with Catherine Deneuve