Danielle Licari is a French singer who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. She's now remembered primarily as the vocalist in Concerto pour une Voix.

In 1964, she dubbed the singing in the movie The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the role of Geneviève Emery, played by Catherine Deneuve.

From 1965 to 1967 she sang in the vocal trio Les Fizz with Jackie Castan and Nadine Doukhan, two other ex-Djinns Singers. Backed by Jacques Denjean's orchestra, the band released three EP.

In 1968, she recorded "Treize jours en France", composed by Francis Lai; she also recorded a second version of "Love Story" dedicated to her by the same composer.

In 1969, she recorded her greatest hit, "Concerto pour une Voix". The album has sold over 15 million copies.

In 1972, she submitted her song "Au cœur d'une chanson" to compete in the Eurovision contest representing France. The French committee selected Betty Mars and her song "Come-Comedie" instead.

In 1972, she represented France in the "World Popular Song Festival" held in Tokyo, Japan. Her song "Une Vie" was a finalist.

In 1973, she participated as a vocalist to an album considered as a masterpiece of French chanson: the symphonic, dark and epic Il n'y a plus rien (There is nothing anymore) by singer-songwriter Léo Ferré.

In July 1978, she sang with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and the choir of St-Dominique Church. The piece chosen was a musical drama called Concerto pour Helene, in honour of Helene Boule, the wife of the founder of Quebec City, as part of the city's 370th anniversary celebrations. The work was composed by Claude Léveillée.

In 1982, she voiced Princess Aurora in the French dub of Sleeping Beauty.

Wyclef Jean sampled "Concerto Pour Une Voix" in his 1997 song "Apocalypse."

She has sold over 20 million copies of her albums during her career. Her songs are found in easy listening CD compilations worldwide.

Her characteristic singing style lacked lyrics, communicating emotions through sounds, the way a violin would. This may have fueled her popularity in non-French speaking countries like Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and Korea. She used her voice like a musical instrument giving a soft, unique dream-like tone. She has been called la voz de la sirena ("the voice of a Siren"). Most of her recordings are arrangements of classical themes composed originally for instruments rather than voice, while the arrangements consist generally of large orchestral ensembles mixed with a pop-rock band instrumentation. She incorporated pop-rock elements that made her music appealing. Her singing style influenced Japanese Anime soundtracks of the 1980s such as Seiji Yokoyama (Saint Seiya).

Source: Article "Danielle Licari" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Parallèlement à une carrière en solo qui lui valut une certaine notoriété dans les années 1970, elle doubla pour le chant plusieurs personnages ou actrices telle Catherine Deneuve dans Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.

Selon des sources, non officiellement confirmées, Danielle Licari serait née à Boulogne-sur-Mer le 30 novembre 1936 ou le 11 novembre 1943.

Danielle Licari a avant tout travaillé comme choriste de studio, accompagnant de nombreux chanteurs (sans être créditée sur les pochettes la plupart du temps) tel Léo Ferré.

Soprano, elle reprend en solo plusieurs mélodies classiques célèbres, la plupart du temps sans paroles ou sur des onomatopées, à la manière du scat. Elle reprend notamment la célèbre illustration du thème de Il était une fois dans l'Ouest, composé et accompagné par Ennio Morricone, et initialement interprété par Edda Dell'Orso. Mais son plus grand succès reste le Concerto pour une voix, composé et accompagné par Saint-Preux dans le style néo-baroque, œuvre retenue par France Info dans Ces chansons qui font l'histoire.

Elle collabore avec de nombreux orchestres tel celui de Paul Mauriat dans le morceau Paris Ballade, ou accompagne sur des mélodies le saxophoniste d'ambiance Fausto Papetti.

En 1980, elle chante en duo avec Charles Aznavour Mon émouvant amour et donne des concerts au Québec avec le compositeur Claude Léveillée.

Au cinéma, elle double notamment Catherine Deneuve pour le chant dans le film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg de Jacques Demy sur la musique de Michel Legrand.

Source: Article "Danielle Licari" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.