TV presentation of the Armenian translation of Charles Aznavour's 6th book and 2nd song (photos, video in Armenian)

Lovers, friends, boheme, Hollywood and Armenia. Funny and dramatic, surprising, exciting and emotional memories about the past, good friends and unforgettable love stories. “La Bohème. Le Temps Des Avants” memoir is Aznavour’s last and the most comprehensive autobiography, which includes numerous exclusive details about his life and career. The proofreader of the Armenian translation is Hasmik Arakelyan. “In the book Aznavour talked about all the important women in his life. He honestly talks about his wives, especially concentrating on the life and memories with his third wife. They lived together for 50 years. There is a separate section about her. In the book Aznavour also reveals that he met his first wife in one of the clubs. He also talks about his son - Patrick, who passed away really soon. He rarely talked about this topic.”

  

 “La Bohème. Le Temps Des Avants” memoir is one of the last pieces that helps to collect the puzzle called Aznavour. The book was firstly translated in Armenian back in 2004. Diplomat-translator Hamlet Gasparyan translated the book with tenderness and attention to all the words and details. For the new publication Hamlet Gasparyan revised the translation and re-edited the book. 

Aznavour lived three lives and he wrote about all three of them. This is how the book editor Samvel Gasparyan characterizes the great chansonnier and his book. According to Samvel Gasparyan Aznavour had several stages of life - before the great success, the path of becoming a well-known artist loved by many, and the life after 80, when people usually take a pause to reflect on their lives. This was not the case for Aznavour.  “He really believed that he needed to write down everything. The book was written in 2004, but after several years this book seemed to be outdated for him. Thus, Aznavour decided to continue with the second book.”

Yet again, by the initiative of the Newmag publishing house, not only Aznavour’s books, but also songs are translated into Armenian. This time the Armenian translation of his song was performed by Shushan Petrosyan. Newmag presented a whole package - new song, new musical arrangement, new video clip and new performance. Shushan Petrosyan gladly accepted the offer. “My goal-oriented and perfectionist friend Artak Aleksanyan offered me to perform this song. He is part of my family, so I immediately accepted it. By the way, my career as a singer started with his song.”

Chansonnier’s gestures and the song itself have become so popular that Aznavour translated it also into English. Today the song also sounds in Armenian. Newmag produced the song in cooperation with Armenia TV. PR manager of Armenia TV Haykuhi Asatryan notes that the creative team of this music video is the same team behind the song “Reste”. “Listening to the original song is indeed captivating. However, you get totally different emotions when you fully understand the words and the meaning behind the song. The poetry is translated beautifully.”

 

As always, the sponsor of both the book publication and song producing is Amundi-ACBA. The executive director of the company Jean Mazejian claims that all the books have immense value in them. “We spend a lot of time reading the book, analyzing it or learning from it. We kind of became good friends. It is quite different in the case of songs. We can change the song and listen to a new one every three minutes, but we might keep the melody in mind for the whole day. In fact, songs are not only about the melody but also about the poetry.”

Aznavour wanted to say his final farewell to the world. this song. That is what happened. By the initiative of the Newmag publishing house his farewell song is now translated into Armenian.