We are well aware of the love story that unites Catherine Ringer and Quebec, having been woven through the singer’s numerous visits during the heyday of the group Les Rita Mitsouko. And at one time, she was so passionate about it that she and her partner almost came to live there. “Fred Chichin had a crazy desire to settle there,” she says.
Catherine Ringer was “less enthusiastic” than her late partner about the idea of leaving her native France. Fred Chichin’s dream never came to fruition, but the singer nevertheless evokes “very great pride” when the time comes to discuss the success of Rita Mitsouko with music lovers from La Belle Province.
“I have always been very happy to come to Quebec,” she confides in a telephone interview from France. Being loved by the Quebec public is something that makes me very proud. And I must admit that it was about time I came back to see you.”
The words of Alice Mendelson
This is what she is doing today, at the invitation of the International Literature Festival. The singer arrives in Quebec with, in her suitcases, her most recent project: The eroticism of living. The raw material for this show? Poems by Alice Mendelson, a longtime friend of Catherine Ringer’s father, the painter Sam Ringer.
However, the singer only got to know the poet once her father died.
“My father was quite secretive about his life outside his family: he did not mix his life as a painter and his cultural friendships with his family. Alice spoke to me about her personality, the beauty of her character and I was very happy to be able to talk about my father with someone who knew her differently,” says Catherine Ringer.
A “magnificent” poetry
The writings of Alice Mendelson, written between 1947 and 2021, are therefore intended to be a chronicle of this woman’s life. Her notebooks became her confidants, where she opened up without shame about her desires, fantasies (not necessarily sexual), joys and aspirations.
On stage, some are recited with the legendary verve of Catherine Ringer, while others will be sung. These poems were previously set to music by the composer Grégoire Hetzel, who have won numerous awards at the César du cinéma ceremony in France.
“It’s a poetry that is magnificent, but also very simple, therefore easy to access. It goes straight to the heart and I hope it will please the Quebec public,” concludes Catherine Ringer.
Catherine Ringer will present her show The eroticism of living at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on Saturday, then at the Théâtre Outremont in Montréal on September 20 and 21.
2023-09-15 23:07:48
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