It had to be the best birthday present of her life: Klaire was finally going to see Anne Sylvestre in concert. For her 35th birthday, she received two places, the Holy Grail. The author and comedian known as Klaire fait Grr has been kicking around for months. A few years earlier, she had discovered the singer’s adult repertoire and, since then, had not let go of it. Impacted by her songs “feminist, political, funny, angry”. But Klaire never attended this concert: on November 30, 2020, Anne Sylvestre failed him.
Anne-Marie Beugras – her name in the civil registry – died following a stroke at the age of 86. Klaire, disappointed, then consoled herself by eating pancakes with pianist Odile Huleux. That evening they will foment Sardine Time, a show of “songs-not-sung”, now on tour, and which has earned her the title of“Anne Sylvestre, new generation” by the magazine Telerama.
All this pleases him, but Klaire wants to clarify: “It’s not about looking the same, it’s about recognizing a familiar smell of rage, love and flowing coffee. We came to tell, but we did not come to seduce and the path becomes more difficult, more rocky. » And to add: “Anne Sylvestre is my rock grandmother. »
Beyond the “Fabulettes”
The lineage will be the common thread of all these meetings around the singer. Granddaughters, daughters, sisters, cousins, vocal and spiritual heirs, relatives of anger and tenderness, Anne Sylvestre’s will is open and generous. To the point that it has become a reference for new generations. The artist, popular during his lifetime for his Fabulettes – poetic nursery rhymes which have awakened the children of France for more than half a century and which she has always refused to sing on stage – is now recognized for the other part of her work: songs to text, powerful, committed, feminist, which some do not hesitate to describe as avant-garde.
Clémence Chevreau, the composer’s granddaughter, manages with her mother and her aunt – Philomène and Alice – the music publishing house founded by Anne Sylvestre: BC Musique. The three women are today guarantors of the texts, music and image of the artist. They receive requests for covers, film soundtracks, book projects, tributes, shows, baptisms of schools, places or paths. And there are.
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