Mireille Mathieu : a career spanning 60 years... as seen through 8 songs

This February sees Mireille Mathieu returning to Quebec for the first time in 35 years! For her 60 ans d’amour tour, the famous French singer will be performing several of her memorable hits, which inspired us to ask her a few questions.

Archives de la Place des Arts

Une histoire d’amour:  You compare your life to a fairy tale, why is that? 

Mireille Mathieu: I began my career on November 21, 1965, on Jeu de la chance, a show on which amateur singers performed live and were chosen by the audience to return the following week, which was what happened with me. The next day, I was on the front page of all the newspapers, one of which had the headline Le conte de fée de Mireille Mathieu. Because I had just arrived from Avignon, no one knew me, and yet there I was, singing just once in the capital and having my career take off! It was wonderful, like a fairy tale! 

Bravo tu as gagné: Jeu de la chance opened the doors to show business for you. Do you consider this type of show to be essential in providing equal opportunities? 

M.M.: It’s important, but different now. On The Voice, it’s mostly a jury that decides. And there’s the Internet now, a way of making oneself known that we didn’t have at the time. However, there weren’t many TV channels back then and the ones that were around were watched by millions of viewers, which is no longer possible nowadays, with Netflix and the like. 

J’ai gardé l’accent: You sing in twelve languages. Do you think it’s important that audiences understand the lyrics to your songs? Which language was the biggest challenge? 

M.M.: I’ve been around the world and audiences are very appreciative when you speak a few words in their language. Imagine when you can sing it! Obviously, most of my singing tour is in French, but singing a few songs in the language of a host country gives the audience an opportunity to travel to France, while also allowing them to understand some of the lyrics. 

To me, the most musical languages are, of course, French, Italian—there’s a good reason it’s the language of opera—, but also German, the language of Wagner. The biggest challenge was Finnish. It is an extremely difficult language! I worked day and night to be able to sing it. My song Pardonne-moi ce caprice d’enfant was also performed by a Finnish singer. It was extraordinary, when I performed in Finland, to be able to sing it in their language too. 

Une femme amoureuse: You seem to indeed be a woman who loves her craft. How do you keep the flame burning? 

M.M.: When you have the good fortune to live through the pursuit of your passion, it’s never the same thing. An audience, even if they love you, always needs to be won back. So, we make changes to the songs performed on tour. But, with a new song, there’s always the question of whether the audience will like it. Well, we ask ourselves a lot of questions and that’s good. 

Mon crédo: Do you have a credo as it relates to your great career? 

M.M.: More of a routine. Ever since I started in this profession, I’ve had stage fright before performing live. So, 4 hours before a show, I do my vocal exercises, and right before going on, I cross myself. It’s important to me. They say that singing is like a prayer, so there you go! 

Rêvons: What do you dream of these days? 

M.M.: I am like de Coubertin—always go higher, always further, always stronger, like in sports. Singing means trying to always go further, to reach the limits of your abilities, to be at your very best. That’s what I did with my classical album. I worked on it for two years—because it’s a completely different way of singing—with the greatest teacher, Madame Jeannine Rice, who worked with Maria Callas and all the greatest singers. The first time I asked her, she said no. I insisted, and now we’re friends. She is an exceptional woman! 

Jezebel: You have an album dedicated to Piaf. Tell us how important La Môme is to you. 

M.M.: When I started out on Jeu de la chance, I sang Jezebel. So, I won with one of her songs. At the time, I didn’t have my own repertoire yet… I sang L’hymne à l’amour or La vie en rose, I sang a lot of her songs. This year, it’s been 60 years since she passed away and I wanted to thank her in my own way and say what a unique woman she was, one of the greatest singers in the world! On this double album, there is also a song I composed called L’amour en robe noire, with lyrics by Claude Lemesle… it’s a tribute, a gem that describes Edith Piaf well. 

Pardonne-moi ce caprice d’enfant: Your mother used to accompany you everywhere you went. What about Quebec would you have liked her to experience? 

M.M.: Quebec audiences, the snow, maple syrup on pancakes, everything that is specific to Quebec. But also, the wonderful stage at Place des Arts, which is like a showcase for an artist. I sang there for the first time thanks to Guy Latraverse, who passed away this fall. I returned often between 1969 and 1982. I will certainly be thinking of him and his family this time. 

Un jour tu reviendras: Mireille Mathieu returns to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier stage for a fourth time on February 17 and 18, 2024.