"But who wants an easy life? That's boring"
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin has always lived on high. She watches us from above, expectant, with a gaze that has revealed her undoubted genius and the depth of a scholar, always keeping her distance from this earthly world to which, perhaps, she does not belong. A woman of fragile power, Birkin has always walked on various sets, stages and sets, displaying the expressiveness and talent of a renaissance woman without law or flag, conquering several generations of Europeans with her art, charisma and attitude.
Jane Birkin was born at the age of 20 in the cinema, working under the orders of Antonioni for the indescribable "Blow Up" (1966), but she established herself soon after as the perfect muse thanks to the sweet voice with which she sang the songs of the musician who made her a legend: Serge Gainsbourg.
It was precisely at the end of the 1960s that she coincided on a film shoot with her teacher (and her beloved) Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg, enraptured by the poetic power of this multi-talented Englishwoman, asked her to record with him an ode to love that shook the foundations of continental Europe at the time: "Je t'aime moi... non plus". A true poem written from the heart, with its procacious lyrics and anguished moans "Ilove you, I love you. I do love you. Me neither" served to nurture a personal relationship that catapulted them both to stardom from which it took them two decades to climb down.
From that moment it was clear that Jane was here to stay. This young English actress of undeniable beauty, always on the lookout for temptations to discover and new needs to create and transcend, understood that France was her new homeland and that music would be the vehicle through which to share her genius as an artist with the world.
In the decades that followed, Birkin developed a prolific career as an actress and songwriter that has always commanded the respect of critics and audiences alike, first under Gainsbourg and later on her own.
In 2017 she released her latest album, "Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le symphonique", an album that sums up the love of a craft, the maturity of experience well lived, and the ease of placing in her Art the absolute romanticism that hides some select Frenchmen. A show that I was able to enjoy at the last edition of the Catalan Primavera Sound festival, where the artist was exultant, offering us a show full of reminiscences and mixed feelings. They say that all times past were better and, sometimes, there is no choice but to admit it.
This coming summer, the British singer will be back on stage. This time it will be in our own home, that place that welcomes us all when summer arrives and that has already become a home for all of us who, wounded by culture, seek to fill our hearts with unrepeatable experiences: Las Noches del Botánico.
Illuminated by the moon will be the arrival of this singular star that shines at the top of the firmament of French popular song, this time accompanied by the Gainsbourg Symphonic Orchestra. It will be a night to fly and to remember and in which, under the baton of the excellent Daniel Casares, we will also be able to enjoy the magic of the Concierto de Aranjuez.
That is nothing. I wouldn't miss it if I were you.
"Vive la France
Nicolas Fernandez
